


/'"^ 



V:..; 



»'""f 



/•■•" 







\ 



L 11 ,^ 



BAILEY 




%^t Kutal Science ^ttiksi 

Edited by L. H. Bailey 



THE PRINCIPLES OF AeRICULTURE 



El)c Eural ^rirnrc ^rrirs 

Edited by L. H. Bailey 

The Soil. King. 

The Spraying of Plants. Lodeman. 

Milk AND ITS Products. \Vi7iff. Enlarged and Beviacd. 

The Fertility of the Land. lioberta. 

The Principles of Fruit-growing. Bailey. 20th 

Edition, Revised. 
BrsH-FRUiTs. Card. 
Fertilizers. Voorhees. Bevised. 
The Principles of Agriculture. Bailey. Bevised. 
Irrigation and Drainage. King. 
The Farmstead. Boberts. 
HrKAi. Wealth and Welfare. Fairchild. 
The Principles of Vegetable-gardening. Bailey. 
Farm Poultry. Watson. Enlarged and Bevised. 
The Feeding of Animals. Jordan. 
The Farmer's Business Handbook. Boberts. 
The Diseases of Animals, llayo. 
The Horse. Boberts. 
How TO Choose a Farm. Hunt. 
Forage Crops. Vooi'hees. 

Bacteria in Relation to Country Life. Lipmaii. 
The Nursery-book. Bailey. 
Plant-breeding. Bailey and Gilbert. Bevised. 
The Forcing-book. Bailey. 
'I'he Pruning-book. Bailey. 

Fruit-growing in Arid Regions. BaddocA- and Whipple. 
Rural Hygiene. Ogden. 
Dry-farming. ]Vidtsoe. 
Law for the American Farmer. Green. 
Farm Boys and Girls. McKeever. 
The Training and 3reakin(; of Horses. Harper. 
Sheep-farming in North America. Craig. 
Cooperation in Agriculture. Poioell. 
The Farm Woodlot. Cheyney and Wentling. 
Household Insects. Herrirk. 
Citrus Fruits. Goit. 

Principles of Rural Credits. Murman. 
Ueekeeping. Phillips. 

Si IITROl'ICAI. VeGETARLE-GaKDKNIK<;. l^njfs. 



THE PRINCIPLES OF 
AGRICULTURE 



A Text - Book for 
Schools and Rueal Societies 



EDITED BV 

L. H. BAILEY 



Twenty -sixth Edition 
With a review and catechism for reading- 
clubs and teachers 



J^pte fork 
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

LONDON : MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd. 

1919 

All rights reserved 



v\ 



< 
:^'^. 



t)^i 



\\ 



Copyright, 1898, 1909 
By L. H. BAILEY 



Set np and electrotyped December, 1898 
Reprinted with corrections January, 1900; January, May, 1901. 
February, June, 1902; February, July, 1903; March, 1904; July, 
1905; April, 1906; August, 1907; June, 1908; January, 1909, 
Revised, June 1909; January, 1010; June, 1911i January, 1912; 
January, 1913; September, December, 1914; July, 1915 
January, 1917 



^^^^ 






^ount ipieasant I^re^is 

J, Horace McFarland Company 
Habrisburo • Pennsylvania 



PREFACE 

The greatest difficulty in the teaching of agricul- 
ture is to tell what agriculture is. To the scientist, 
agriculture has been largely an application of the 
teachings of agricultural chemistry; to the stockman, 
it is chiefly the raising of animals ; to the horticul- 
turist, it may be fruit-growing, flower-growing, or 
nursery business ; and everyone, since the establish- 
ment of the agricultural colleges and experiment 
stations, is certain that it is a science. The fact 
is, however, that agriculture is pursued primarily 
for the gaining of a livelihood, not for the extension 
of knowledge : it is, therefore, a business, not a sci- 
ence. But at every point, a knowledge of science aids 
the business. It is on the science side that the 
experimenter is able to help the farmer. On the 
business side the farmer must rely upon himself ; for 
the person who is not a good business man cannot 
be a good farmer, however much he may know of 
science. These statements are no disparagement of 
science, for, in these days, facts of science and scien- 
tific habits of thought are essential to the best 
farming ; but thev are intended to emT)ha8ize tiie 

(V) 



VI PREFACE 

tact that business method is the master, and that 
teachings of science are the helpmates. 

But even if these facts are fully apprehended, 
the teacher and the farmer are apt to make no 
distinction between the fundamental and the inci- 
dental applications of science, or between principles 
and facts. Therefore, the mistake is often made of 
teaching how to overcome mere obstacles before ex- 
plaining why the obstacles are obstacles. How to 
kill weeds is a mere incident ; the great fact is that 
good farmers are not troubled with weeds. Rather 
than to know kinds of weeds, the farmer should 
know how to manage his land. How to know the 
weeds and how to kill them is what he calls prac- 
tical knowledge, but, standing alone, it is really the 
most unpractical kind of knowledge, for it does not 
tell him how to prevent their recurrence year after 
year. The learner is apt to begin at the wrong 
end of his problem. This is well illustrated in the 
customary discussions of under -drainage. The pupil 
or the reader is first instructed in methods of lay- 
ing drains. But drainage is not the unit. The 
real unit is texture and moisture of soils : plowing, 
draining, green -cropping are means of producing a 
given or desired result. The real subject-matter for 
first consideration, therefore, is amelioration of soil 
rather than laying of drains. When the farmer has 



PREFACE Vll 

learned how to prepare the land, and how to grow 
plants, and how to raise animals, then he may 
enquire about such incidental details as the kinds 
of weeds and insects, the brands of fertilizers, the 
varieties of apples, when he shall till, whether he 
shall raise wheat or sweet corn. The tailor first 
learns how to lay out his garment ; but the farmer 
too often wants to sew on the buttons before he 
cuts his cloth. 

Again, the purpose of education is often misun- 
derstood by both teachers and farmers. Its purpose 
is to improve the farmer, not the farm. If the per- 
son is aroused, the farm is likely to be awakened. 
The happy farmer is a more successful farmer than 
the rich one. If the educated farmer raises no 
more wheat or cotton than the uneducated neighbor, 
his education is nevertheless worth the cost, for his 
mind is open to a thousand influences of which the 
other knows nothing. One's happiness depends less 
on bushels of corn than on entertaining thoughts. 

Not only do we need to know what agriculture 
is, but we should know the relative importance of 
its parts. It is commonly assumed that fertilizing 
the land is the one most fundamental thing in 
agriculture, but this is not so ; for if but one thing 
about farming practices were to be explained, that 
thing should be the tilling of the land. 



Vlll PREFACE 

Agriculture, then, stands upon business, but 
science is the staff. Business cannot be taught in 
a book like this ; but some of the laws of science 
as applied to farm -management can be taught, and 
it is convenient to speak of these laws as the 
principles of agriculture. These principles are ar- 
ranged in a more or less logical order, so that the 
teacher may have the skeleton of the subject before 
him. The subject should not be taught until it is 
analyzed, for analysis supplies the thread upon which 
the facts and practices may be strung. The best 
part of the book, therefore, is the table of contents. 

A book like this should be used only by persons 
who know how to observe. The starting-point in 
the teaching of agriculture is nature -study, — the 
training of the power actually to see things and 
then to draw proper conclusions from them. Into 
this primary field the author hopes to enter ; but 
the present need seems to be for a book of prin- 
ciples designed to aid those who know how to use 
their eyes. 

L. H. BAILEY. 

HORTICUTURAL DEPARTMENT, 

Cornell University, Dee. 1, 1898. 



ANALYSIS 

INTRODUCTION (pages 1-15) 

Paragraphis 

1. What Agriculture /,s 1-9 

2. Tlie Personal Factors tqwn lohich its Success Depends — • 

2a. Upop business or executive ability 10-12 

2b. Upon a knowledge of natural science 13-21 

3. Its Field of Production 22 

Part I 
THE SOIL 

CHAPTER I 
Thb Contents op the Soil (pages 16-36) 

1. What the Soil Is 23,24 

2. Sow Soil is Made — 

2a. The inorganic elements 25-28 

26. The organic elements and agents 29-35 

2c. Transportation of soils 36-40 

3. The Resources of the Soil 41-48 

CHAPTER 11 

Thb Texture and Structure of the Soil (pages 37-46) 

1. What is Meant by Texture 49-51 

2. Why Good Texture and Structure are Important 52,53 

3. How Good Structure Is Obtained 54-59 

4. Structure and Manures 60 

Cix) 



X ANALVSIS 

CHAPTER in 

The Moisture in the Soil (pages 47-63) 
(By L. A. Clinton, Director, Storrs Experiment Station. Conn.) 

Paragraphs 

1. Why Moisture Is Important 61-63 

'^. Hoiv Water is Held in the Soil 64-69 

3. Uow the Moisture-holding Capacitji of the Sail May he 

Increased — 

3ff. The capacity of the soil 70-72 

3&. Capacity is increased by the addition of humus . 73,74 

3c. Capacity may be increased by under-drainage . 75-78 

M. The capacity is increased by proper tillage . . 79-81 

4. The Conservation of Moisture 82,83 

CHAPTER IV 

The Tillage of the Soil (pages 64-76) 

1. What Tillage Is 84-86 

2. What Tillage Does 87-89 

3. How Tillage Is Performed — 

3a. By deep-working tools 90-97 

36. By surface-working tools 98-101 

3c. By compacting tools 102-104 

CHAPTER V 

Enriching the Soil — Farm Resources (pages 77-86) 

J. What Farm Besources Are 105-107 

2. Cropping Resources — 

2a. The kinds of green-manures 108-111 

26. The management of green-manures 112-117 

3. Direct Applications — 

3a. Stable manures 118-122 

36. Other dressings 123-126 



ANAIASii< XI 

CHAPTER VI 

Enriching the Soil — Commercial Resources 
(pages 87-105) 

(By G. W. Cavanaugh, Professor of Agricultural Chemlsty, Cornell 
University) 

Paragraphs 

1. The El('t»e)ils in lite Soil 127-133 

•J. Xitroge)) 134-131) 

3. Phosphoric Acid 140-145 

4. Potash 146-148 

5. Amendments 149-153 

6. Commercial Fertilizers — 

6a. What they are 154-157 

66. Advice as to their use • 158-166 



Part II 
THE PLANT, AND CROPS 

CHAPTER VII 

The Offices of the Plant (pages 106-111) 

J. The Plant and the Crop 167, 168 

2. The Plant in its Relation to Soil 169-171 

3. Tlie Plant in its Eelation to Climate 172, 173 

4. The Plant in its Relation to Animal Life 174,175 

5. The Plant has Intrinsic Value to Man — 

5a. As articles of food or beverage 176, 177 

56. As articles used in the arts 178 

5^. As articles or objects to gratify sesthetic tastes .179-181 

CHAPTER VIII 

How THE Plant Lives (pages 112-131) 

(By B. M. DuGGAB, Professor ( f Plant Physiology, Cornell University) 

1. The Plant Activities . 182. 183 



XU ANALYSIS 

2. The Factors of Orowth — Paragraphs 

2a. Water in the plant 184-189 

26. Soluble salts from the soil 190-192 

2c. Oxygen 193-19ff 

2d. Carbon dioxid and sunlight 197-199 

2e. Heat, or a definite temperature 200-202 

3. The Processes of Groioth 203-207 

4. Irritability 208-212 

CHAPTER IX 
The Propagation op Plants (pages 132-144)" 

1. T}ie Kinds of Propagation 213-215 

2. Seedage, or Propagation by Seeds — 

2a. Requisites of germination 216-221 

26. The raising of seedlings 222-226 

3. Propagation by Buds — 

3a. Why and how bud propagation is used .... 227,228 

36. Undetaehed buds 229, 230 

3c. Detached buds 231-241 

CHAPTER X 
Preparation of Land for the Seed (pages 145-158) 

(By I. P. Roberts, Emeritus Professor of Agriculture, 
Coruell University) 

1. Factors Which Determine the Preparation of the Seed-bed. 242,243 

2. Tlie Demands of the Plant 244-249 

3. The Preparing of the Seed-bed 250-255 

4. Application of the Foregoing Principles — 

4a. Wheat 256-259 

46. Maize, or Indian corn 260, 261 

4c. Potatoes 262-264 

CHAPTER XI 

Subsequent Care op the Plant (pages 159-178) 

1. By Means of Tillage — 

la. In general 265-270 

16. In fruit plantations 271-277 



ANALYSIS XIU 

2. By Meatis of Pruning and Training — Paragraphs 

2a. Pruning vs. training 278, 279 

26. The healing of wounds 280-284 

2c. The principles of pruning 285-289 

3. By Keeping Enemies in Check — 

3a. The kinds of enemies 290-293 

36. The preventives and remedies 294-303 

CHAPTER XII 

Pastures, Meadows, and Forage (pages 179-200) 

(By I. p. Roberts) 

1. Grass 304-306 

2. Permanent Pastures — 

2a. Preparation of the land 307-310 

26. Maintaining the pasture 311-317 

3. Meadows — 

3a. Temporary meadows 318-321 

36. Permanent meadows 322-325 

3c. Kinds of grasses for meadows 326-329 

4. Other Forage Plants 330-335 

Part III 
THE ANIMAL, AND STOCK 

CHAPTER XIII 
The Offices of the Animal (pages 201-207) 

1. The Animal and the Stock 336,337 

2. The Animal in Its Relation to the Soil 338, 339 

3. TJie Animal in Its Relation to the Crop 340, 341 

4. The Animal has Intrinsic Value to Man — 

4a. As articles of food 342-344 

46. As articles used in the arts ' 345,346 

4c. As companions 347 

5. The Animal as a Beast of Burden 348-350 

6. The Animal as a Pest-destrofier -351, 352 

7. The Animal niversiixes Lahnr 353,354 



XIV ANALYSIS 

CHAPTER XIV 

How THE Animal Lives (pages 208-238) 

(By James Law, Ex-Director of the New York State Veterinary College, 
Cornell University) 

1. Tliv Cell, and its Part in the Vital Frocesses — Paragraplts 

la. The cell 355 

1^. Single -celled animals 356-359 

Ic. Many-celled animals 360-366 

2. The Food of Animah — 

2a. Kind of food 367,368 

26. Food constituents 369-376 

3. .Digestion of Food — 

3a. What digestion is 377, 378 

3&. The saliva 379-385 

3t'. The gastric juice 386-393 

3*:/. Intestinal digestion 394-401 

4. Absorption of the Digested Matters — 

4a. How absorption takes place 402-404 

46. Destination of the rich blood from the intestines. 405-409 

0. Respiration, or Breatliing — 

5a. What breathing is 410-413 

56. Blood -changes in respiration 414-418 

5c. Amount of air required 419-421 

G. Worh; Waste; Best— 

6a. Waste of tissue 422,423 

()/^ Applications to practice 424-426 

CHAPTER XV 

The Feeding of the Animal (pages 239-257) 

(By H. H. Wing, Professor of Animal Husbandry in 

Cornell University) 

1 . Sources of Food of Animals 427, 428 

2. Bow the Animal Uses Food 429-435 



ANALYSIS KV 

3. Composition of Fodders — Paragraphs 

3a, Classification 43t5 

36. Water 437-439 

3c. Ash 440, 44] 

'Ml. Albuminoids 442-444 

3e. Carbohyhrates 445-447 

3/. Fats 448, 449 

4. Feeding — 

4rt. Nutritive ratio 450 4-57 

4/>. Quantity of food required 458-463 

4t'. Feeding standards 464, 465 

4rf. Bulk in the ration 466-468 

4e. Palatableness 469, 470 

if. Cooking and preparing the food 471-473 

CHAPTER XVI 

The Management of Stock (page 258-278) 
(By I. P. Roberts) 

1. The Breediny of iStock — 

la. What is meant by breeding 474-477 

lb. The mental ideal 478-481 

If. How to attain the ideal 482-487 

2. Where Stock -ra is iug Is Advisable 488-491 

3. How Much Stock Ma;/ be Kept 492-500 

4. The Care of Stock— 

4a. Housing 501-505 

4b. Water 506, 507 

4c. Food 508-510 

GLOSSARY (pages 281-288) 

SUGGESTIONS TO READING CLUBS AND TO TEACHERS 
(pages 289-323) 

INDEX (pages 325-336) 



THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 



INTRODUCTION 

1. What Agriculture Is 

1./ Agriculture, or farming, is the business of 
raising products from the land. These products 
are of two classes : crops, or plants and their 
products ; stock, or animals and their products. 
The former are direct products of the land ; the 
latter are indirect products of the land. 

2. Agriculture also comprises, to a certain 
extent, the marketing or selling of its products. 
As marketable commodities, the products are of 
two classes : primary, or those which are put on 
the market in their native or natural condition, 
as wheat, potatoes, bananas, eggs, milk, wool; 
secondary, or those which are put on the market 
in a manufactured condition, as butter, cheese, 
cider, evaporated fru its. ( , 

3. The chief contribution of agriculture to 
the wealth and welfare of the world is the pro- 
duction of food. Its second contribution is the 
production of materials for clothing. Its third 

A (I) 



2 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

is the production of wood or timber, used 
in building and in the various wood -working 
trades. Other contributions are the production 
of materials used in medicine and in various 
secondary and incidental arts and manufactures. 

4. The ideal agriculture maintains itself. 
That is, it is able to thrive forever on the same 
land and from its own resources. The land 
becomes more productive with time, and this 
even without the aid of fertilizing materials 
from the outside. This state is possible only 
with a mixed husbandry, in which rotations of 
crops and the raising of animals are necessary 
features. The more specialized any agricultural 
industry becomes, the more must it depend upon 
outside and artificial aids for the enrichment of 
the land and for its continued support. 

5. JAgriculture may be roughly divided into 
four general branches or departments : agricul- 
ture in its restricted sense, animal industry, for- 
estry, horticulture^' 

6.1 Agriculture in its restricted sense — some- 
times, but erroneously, called agriculture proper — 
is a term applied to the general management 
of lands and farms, .and to the growing of the 
staple grain and fiber crops. { In North America, 
the use of the term agriculture has been restricted 
to the above application largely through the in- 
fluence of agricultural colleges and experiment 



INTRODUCTION 



stations, in which the general field of agriculture 
has been divided into various special subjects. 

7. J Animal industry is the raising of animals, 
either for direct sale or use or for their pro- 
ducts. It is customary to speak of it as com- 
prising three departments: stock-raising, or the 
general growing of mammals, as cattle, horses, 
sheep; dairy husbandry, or the production of 
milk and milk products; poultry- raising, or the 
growing of fowls, as chickens, turkeys, geese, 
ducks. In its largest sense, it comprises other de- 
partments, as apiculture or bee -raising, fish -cul- 
ture, ostreaculture or oyster- raising, and the like. 

8. Forestry is the growing of timber and 
woods. Its objects are two : to obtain a sala- 
ble product ; to produce some secondary effect 
upon the region, as the modification of climate 
or the preservation of the water-supply to rivers 
and lakes. 

9. Horticulture is the growing of fruits, 
kitchen - garden vegetables, and ornamental 
plants. It has been divided into four depart- 
ments : pomology, or fruit-growing ; olericul- 
ture, or vegetable - gardening ; floriculture, or 
the growing of flowers and plants for their own 
or individual uses as means of ornament; land- 
scape horticulture, or the growing and planting 
of ornamental plants for their uses in mass 
effects in the landscape (on the lawn) . \ 



4 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

2. The Personal Factors Upon Which Its 
Success Depends 

2a. Upon business or executive ability 

10. Since the farmer makes a living by 
means of trade, it follows that ability to man- 
age business and affairs is requisite to his suc- 
cess. Executive ability is as needful to him as 
to the merchant or the manufacturer ; and the 
lack of such ability is probably the commonest 
and most serious fault with our agriculture. As 
the conditions of trade are ever changing, so the 
methods of the farmer must be amenable to 
modification. He must quickly and completely 
adapt himself to the commerce of the time. 
Manifestly, however, this business capability 
cannot be taught by books. It is a matter of 
temperament, home training, and opportunity. 
Like all permanent success, business prosperity 
depends upon correct thinking, and then upon 
the correct application of the thinking. Suc- 
cessful agriculture, therefore, is a matter of 
personality more than of circumstances. 

11. The compound result of executive ability 
and experience may be expressed in the term 
farm -practice. It is the judgment of the 
farmer upon the question in hand. However 
much he may learn from science, his own 



INTRODUCTION O 

experience on his own farm must tell him what 
crops to grow, how to fertilize his land, what 
breeds and varieties to raise, when and how to 
sow and to reap. The experience of one farmer 
is invaluable to another, but each farm is 
nevertheless a separate and local problem, which 
the farmer must think out and work out for 
himself. 

12. The farmer must be able not only to 
raise his products, but also to sell them. He 
must produce either what the trade demands, 
or be able to sell products which are not known 
in the general market. J^n other words, there 
are two types of commercial effort in farming : 
growing the staple products for the world's 
markets (as wheat, beans, maize, meat), in 
which case the market dictates the price ; grow- 
ing special products for particular or personal sale 
(as the products of superior excellence, and 
luxuries), in which case the producer looks for 
his customers and dictates the price. 

2&. Upon a hiowledge of natural science 

13. The farmer, however, has more problems 
to deal with than those connected with trade. 
He must raise products : and such production 
depends upon the exercise of much special 
knowledge and skill. The most successful pro- 



6 THK pkinciplp:s of agriculture 

duction of agricultural products rests upou 
the application of many principles and facts of 
natural science ; and the importance of such 
application is rapidly increasing, with the com- 
petitions and complexities of civilization. The 
study of these natural sciences also establishes 
habits of correct thinking, and opens the mind 
to a larger enjoyment of life, — for happiness, 
like success, depends upon habits of thought. 
The farmer should live for himself, as well as 
for his crops. The sciences upon the knowledge 
of which the best agricultural practice chiefly 
depends may now be mentioned, being stated 
approximately in the order of their importance 
to the actual practice of the modern farmer. 

14. Physics. The physical properties and 
actions of bodies are fundamentally concerned 
in every agricultural result, whether the farmer 
knows it or not. The influences of light and 
heat, the movements of fluids in soil, plant and 
animal, the forces concerned in every machine 
and appliance, are some of the most obvious of 
these physical problems. So important to the 
farmer is a knowledge of physics that "agi'icul- 
tural physics" is now a subject of instruction 
in colleges. The most important direct applica- 
tion of a knowledge of physics to agricultural 
practice has come as a result of recent studies 
of the soil. The questions of soil moistm*e, soil 



INTKODITTION 



texture, the tilling of land, and the acceleration 
of chemical activities in the soil, are essentially 
questions of physics; and these are the kinds 
of scientific problems which the farmer needs 
first to apprehend. 

15. Mechanics. In practice, mechanics is an 
application of the laws of physics. The ele- 
mentary principles of mechanics are apprehended 
by the farmer unconsciously, as a result of 
experience ; but since modern agriculture is 
impossible without numerous and often elaborate 
mechanical devices, it follows that it is not 
enough that the farmer be self-taught. At every 
turn the farmer uses or applies physical forces, 
in tools, vehicles, and machines. His work 
often takes him into the field of civil en- 
gineering. To show how much the farmer 
is dependent on practical mechanics, we need 
mention only implements of tillage, problems 
associated with the draughts of horse tools, 
the elaborate harvesting machinery, threshers 
and feed -mills and milk -working machinery and 
the power to run them, fruit evaporating ma- 
chinery, pumps, windmills, hydraulic rams, con- 
struction of water supplies, problems of animal 
locomotion. 

16. Plant-knowledge, or botany. Since the 
plant is the primary product of the farm, a 
knowledge of its characteristics and kinds is of 



8 THE PRINCIPLES OP AGRICULTURE 

fundamental importance to the farmer. From 
the farmer's standpoint, there are four great 
departments of plant -knowledge : physiology, or 
a knowledge of the way in which the plant lives, 
grows, and multiplies ; pathology, or a knowl- 
edge of mal- nutrition and diseases ; systematic 
botany, or a knowledge of the kinds of plants ; 
ecology, or a knowledge of the inter-relations 
between plants and their environments (or sur- 
roundings), and how they are modified by 
changes in environments, by crossing, and by 
breeding. 

17. Animal-knowledge, or zoology. There are 
also four general directions in which animal- 
knowledge appeals to the farmer : physiology, 
with its practical applications of feeding, hous- 
ing, and general care of animals ; pathology, or 
knowledge of mal -nutrition and diseases (with 
special applications in the practice of surgery 
and medicine) ; kinds of animals, and the life- 
histories of those which are particularly bene- 
ficial or injurious to agriculture (with special 
applications in economic entomology and eco- 
nomic ornithology) ; ecology and breeding. 

18. Chemistry. There are two general direc- 
tions in which chemistry appeals to the agri- 
culturist : in enlarging his knowledge of the 
life-processes of plants and animals ; and in 
affording direct information of the composition 



INTRODUCTION 9 

of many materials used or produced ou the 
farm. In practice, chemistry aids the farmer 
chiefly in suggesting how he may feed plants 
(fertilize the land) and animals. So many and 
important are the aids which chemistry extends 
to agriculture, that the various subjects involved 
have been associated under the name of "agri- 
cultural chemistry." This differs from other 
chemistry not in kind, but only in the subjects 
which it considers. 

19. Climatology. Climate determines to a 
large extent the particular treatment or care 
which the farmer gives his crops and stock. It 
also profoundly influences plants and animals. 
They change when climate changes, or when 
they are taken to other climates. Climate is 
therefore a powerful agency in producing new 
breeds and new varieties. The science of 
weather, or meteorology, is also intimately 
associated with the work of the farmer. 

20. Geology. The agricultural possibilities of 
any region are intimately associated with its 
surface geology, or the way in which the soil 
was formed. A knowledge of the geology of 
his region may not greatly aid the farmer in 
the prosecution of his business, but it should 
add much interest and zest to his life. 

21. We now apprehend that agriculture is a 
complicated and difficult business. Founded 



10 THE PKINCIPLES OF AGRICL'LTUKE 

upon trade, and profoundly influenced by every 
commercial and economic condition, its suc- 
cessful prosecution nevertheless depends upon 
an intimate and even expert knowledge of 
many natural sciences. Aside from all this, 
the farmer has to deal with great numbers of 
objects or facts: thousands of species of plants 
are cultivated, and many of these species have 
hundreds and thousands of varieties ; many 
species of animals are domesticated, and each 
species has distinct breeds. Each of these sep- 
arate facts demands specific treatment. More- 
over, the conditions under which the farmer 
works are ever changing : his innumerable prob- 
lems are endlessly varied and complicated by 
climate, seasons, vagaries of weather, attacks of 
pests and diseases, fluctuations in labor supply, 
and many other unpredictable factors. 

3. Its Field of Production 

22. In the production of its wealth, agricul- 
ture operates in three great fields, — with the 
soil, the plant, and the animal. Although aided 
at every point by knowledge of other subjects, 
its final success rests upon these bases; and 
these are the fields, therefore, to which a text- 
book may give most profitable attention. 



INTKODUCTION 11 



fil(7G0ESTI0NS ON THE FOBEGOING PARAGRAPHS 



la. |The word agriculture is a compound of the Latin agri, 
"field," and cultura, "tilling." Farming and husbandry are 
synonymous with it, when used in their broadest sense; but there 
is a tendency to restrict these two words to the immediate prac- 
tice, or practical side, of agriculture. 

2fl. It is often difficult to draw a line of demarkation between 
agriculture and manufacture. The husbandmen is often both 
farmer and manufacturer. Manufacturing which is done on the 
farm, and is of secondary importance to the raising of crops or 
stock, is commonly spoken of as agriculture. The manipulation 
or manufacturing of some agricultural products requires such 
special skill and appliances that it becomes a business by itself, 
and is then manufacture proper. Thus, the making of flour is 
no longer thought of as agriculture; and the making of wine, 
jellies, cheese, butter, canned fruits, and the like, is coming more 
and more into the category of special manufacturing industries. 
Strictly speaking, agriculture stops at the factory d oor, ff 

3a. Agriculture is often said to be the most fundamental and 
useful of occupations, since it feeds the world. Theoretically, 
this may be true ; but a high state of civilization is possible only 
with diversification of interests. As civilization advances, there- 
fore, other occupations rise in relative importance, the one de- 
pending upon the other. In our modern life, agriculture is 
impossible without the highly developed manufacturing and trans- 
portational trades. Broadly speaking, civilization may be said to 
rest upon agriculture, transportation, and manufacture. 

4a. Mixed husbandry is a term used to denote the growing of 
a general variety of farm crops and stock, especially the growing 
of grass, grain, with grazing (pasturing) and general stock-rais- 
ing. It is used in distinction to specialty-farming or the raising 
of particular or special things, as fruit, bees, vegetables, beef, 
eggs. 

4b, Self-perpetuating industries conduce to stability of 
political and social institutions. " The epochs which precede 
the agricultural occupation of a country are commonly about as 



12 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

follows: Discovery, exploration, hunting, speculation, lumber- 
ing or mining. The real and permanent prosperity of a 
country begins when the agriculture has evolved so far as 
to be self-sustaining and to leave the soil in constantly better 
condition for the growing of plants. Lumbering and mining 
are simply means of utilizing a reserve which nature has laid 
by, and these industries are, therefore, self limited, and are 
constantly moving on into unrobbed territory. Agriculture, 
when at its best, remains forever in the same place, and gains 
in riches with the years; but in this country it has so far been 
mostly a species of mining for plant- food, and then a rushing 
on for virgin lands." — Principles of Fruit- Crr owing, 26. 

8a. Forestry is popularly misunderstood in this country. 
The forest is to be considered as a crop. The salable product 
begins to be obtainable in a few years, in the shape of trim- 
mings and thinnings, which are useful in manufacture and for 
fuel; whereas, the common notion is that the forest gives no 
return until the trees are old enough to cut for timber. One 
reason for this erroneous impression is the fact that wood has 
been so abundant and cheap in North America that the smaller 
products have not been considered to be worth the saving; but 
even now, in the manufacture of various articles of commerce, 
the trimmings and thinnings of forests should pay an income 
on the investment in some parts of the country. If a manipu- 
lated forest is a crop, then forestry is a kind of agriculture, and 
it should not be confounded with the mere botany of forest 
trees, as is commonly done. 

9a. The word horticulture is made up of the Latin hortus, 
"garden," and cultura, "tilling." In its broadest sense, the 
word garden is its equivalent, but it is commonly used to desig- 
nate horticulture as applied to small areas, more particularly 
when the subjects are flowers and kitchen -garden vegetables. 
Etymologically, garden refers to the engirded or confined 
(walled-in or fenced-in) area immediately surrounding the 
residence, in distinction to the ager (la) or field which lay 
beyond. Hortus has a similar significance. Paradise is, in 
etymology, a name for an enclosed area; and the term was 



INTRODUCTION 13 

given .to some of the early books on gardening, e. g., Parkinson's 
"Paradisus Terrestris" (1629), which is an account of the orna- 
mental plants of that period. 

14a. King's book on "The Soil" explains the intimate 
relation of physical forces to the productivity of the land; and 
the author is Professor of Agricultural Physics in the University 
of Wisconsin. There is a Bureau of Soils in the National 
Department of Agriculture, the work of which is largely in 
the field of soil physics. The physical or mechanical analysis 
of soils is now considered to be as important as the chemical 
analysis. Some of the physical aspects of farm soils are dis- 
cussed in our chapters ii., iii., iv., v. 

16a. Ecology (written oecology in the dictionaries) is the 
science which treats of the relationship of organisms (that is, 
plants and animals) to each other and to their environments. 
It is animal and vegetable economy, or the general external 
phenomena of the living world. It has to do with modes and 
habits of life, as of struggle for existence, migrations and 
nesting of birds, distribution of animals and plants, influence 
of climate on organisms, the way in which any plant or animal 
behaves, and the like. Darwin's works are rich in ecological 
observations. 

16&. Environment is the sum of conditions or surroundings 
or circumstances in which any organism lives. An environment 
of any plant is the compound condition produced by soil, 
climate, altitude, struggle for existence, and so on. 

18a. It is customary to consider agricultural chemistry as 
the fundamental science of agriculture. Works on agricultural 
chemistry are often called works on agriculture. But agricul- 
ture has no single fundamental science. Its success, as we 
have seen, depends upon a union of business methods and the 
applications of science; and this science, in its turn, is a coordi- 
nation of many sciences. Chemistry is only one of the sciences 
which contribute to a better agriculture. Under the inspiration 
of Davy, Liebig, and their followers, agricultural chemistry made 
the first great application of science to agriculture ; and upon 
this foundation has grown the experiment -station idrea. It is 



14 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

not strange, therefore, that this science should be more inti- 
mately associated than others with agricultural ideas ; but we 
now understand that agriculture cannot be an exact or definite 
science, and that the retort and the crucible can solve only a few 
of its many problems. In particular, we must outgrow the idea 
that by analyzing soil and plant we can determine what the one 
will produce and what the other needs. Agricultural chemistry 
is the product of laboratory methods. The results of these 
methods may not apply in the field, because the conditions there 
are so different and so variable. The soil is the laboratory in 
which the chemical activities take place, but conditions of 
weather are ever modifying these activities ; and it is not always 
that the soil and the plant are in condition to work together. 

20a. As an illustration of the agricultural interest which 
attaches to the surface geology of a region, see Tarr's "Geo- 
logical History of the Chautauqua Grape Belt," Bull. 109 Cor- 
nell Exp. Sta. 

21«. Probably no less than 50,000 species of plants (or 
forms which have been considered to be species) have been 
cultivated. The greater number of these are ornamental sub- 
jects. Of orchids alone, as many as 1,500 species have been 
introduced into cultivation. Nicholson's Illustrated Dictionary of 
Gardening describes about 40,000 species of domesticated plants. 
Of plants grown for food, fiber, etc., De CandoUe admits 247 spe- 
cies (in Origin of Cultivated Plants), but these are only the most 
prominent ones. Vilmorin (The Vegetable Garden) describes 
211 species of kitchen -garden vegetables alone. Sturtevant 
estimates (Agricultural Science, iii., 178) 1,076 species as having 
been "recorded as cultivated for food use." Of some species, 
the cultivated varieties are numbered by the thousands, as in 
apple, chrysanthemum, carnation, potato. Of animals, more 
than 50 species are domesticated, and the breeds or varieties 
of many of them (as in cattle) run into the hundreds. 

216. It is commonly said that agriculture is itself a science, 
but we now see that this is not true. It has no field of science 
exclusively its own. Its purpose is the making of a living for 
its practitioner, not the extension of knowledge. The subject of 



INTRODUCTION 15 

mathematics is numbers, quantity and magnitude; of botany, 
plants; of ornithology, birds; of entomology, insects; of chem- 
istry, the composition of matter; of astronomy, the heavens: 
but agriculture is a mosaic of many sciences, arts and activities. 
Or, it may be said to be a composite of sciences and arts, much 
as medicine and surgery are. But if there is no science of 
agriculture as distinct from other sciences, the prosecution of 
agriculture must be scientific; and the fact that it is a mosaic 
makes it all the more difficult to follow, and enforces the im- 
portance of executive judgment and farm - practice over mere 
scientific knowledge. 

22a. The province of a text -book of agriculture, in other 
words, is to deal (1) with the original production of agricultural 
wealth rather than with its manufacture, transjiortation or sale, 
for these latter enterprises are largely matters of personal cir- 
cumstance and individuality, and (2) with those principles and 
facts which are common to all agriculture, or which may be 
considered to be fundamental. 

226. In other words, we must search for principles, not for 
mere facts or information : we shall seek to ask why before we 
ask how. Principles apply everywhere, but facts and rules may 
apply only where they originate. Agriculture is founded upon 
laws; but there are teachers who would have us believe that it 
is chiefly the overcoming of mere obstacles, as insects, unpro- 
pitious weather, and the like. There are great fundamentals 
which the learner must comprehend ; therefore we shall say 
nothing, in this book, about the incidentals, as the kinds of 
weeds, the brands of fertilizers, the breeds of animals, the varie- 
ties of flowers. 



Pakt I 
THE SOIL 



Chapter I 

THE CONTENTS OF THE SOIL 

1. What the Soil Is 

23. The earth, the atmosphere, and the sun- 
light are the sources of all life and wealth. 
Atmosphere and sunlight are practically beyond 
the control of man, but the surface of the land 
is amenable to treatment and amelioration. 

24. The soil is that part of the solid surface 
of the earth in which plants grow. It varies in 
depth from less than an inch to several feet. 
The uppermost part of it is usually darkest 
colored and most fertile, and is the part which 
is generally understood as "the soil" in common 
speech, whereas the under part is called the 
sub -soil. When speaking of areas, we use the 
word land ; but when speaking of the particular 
agi'icultural attributes of this land, we may use 
the word soil. 

(16) 



THE CONTENTS OK THE 801L 17 

2. How Soil Is Made 
2a. The inorganic elements 

25. The basis of soil is fragments of rock. 
To this base is added the remains of plants and 
animals (or organic matter) . When in condition 
to grow plants, it also contains water. The 
character of any soil, therefore, is primarily 
determined by the kind of rock from which it 
has come, and the amount of organic matter 
and water which it contains. 

26. As the surface of the earth cooled, it 
became rock -bound. Wrinkles and ridges ap- 
peared, forming mountains and valleys. The 
tendency is for the elevations to be lessened and 
the depressions to be filled. That is, the surface 
of the earth is being leveled. The chief agency 
in this leveling process is weathering. The hills 
and mountains are worn down by alternations of 
temperature, by frost, ice, snow, rain and wind. 
They are worn away by the loss of small par- 
ticles : these particles, when gathered on the 
hillsides or deposited on lower levels, form soil. 

27. The weathering agencies which reduce 
the mountains operate also on level areas ; 
but since the soil then remains where it is 
formed, and thereby affords a protection to 
the underlying rock, the reduction of the rock 



18 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

usually proceeds more slowly than on inclined 
surfaces. 

28. There are, then, two sets of forces con- 
cerned in the original formation of soils, — the 
disintegration or wearing away of the rock, and 
the transfer or moving of the particles to other 
places. 

26. The organic elements and agents 

29. Plants are important agents in the forma- 
tion of soil. Their action is of two kinds : the 
roots corrode and break up the surfaces of rock 
and particles of soil, and the pla.nt finally 
decays and adds some of its tissue to the soil. 

30. In the disintegration of rock and the 
fining of soil, the root acts in two ways : it ex- 
erts a mechanical force or pressure as it grows, 
cracking and cleaving the rock ; and it has a 
chemical action in dissolving out certain ma- 
terials, and thereby consuming and weakening 
the rock. 

31. Animals contribute to the formation of 
soil by their excrement and the decay of their 
carcasses. Burrowing and digging animals also 
expose rocks and soils to weathering, and con- 
tribute to the transportation of the particles. 
Some animals are even more directly concerned 
in soil- making. Of these, the chief are the 



THE CONTENTS OF THE SOIL 19 

various kinds of earthworms, one of which 
is the common angleworm. These animals eat 
earth, which, when excreted, is more or less 
mixed with organic matter, and the mineral 
particles are ground and modified. It is now 
considered that in the tenacious soils in which 
these animals work, the earthworms have been 
very important agents in fitting the earth for 
the growing of plants, and consequently for 
agriculture. 

32. While the basis of most soils is dis- 
integrated rock, there are some soils which 
are essentially organic in origin. These are 
formed by the accumulation of vegetable mat- 
ter, often aided by the incorporation of animal 
remains. In the tropics, such soils are often 
formed on shores and in lagoons by the exten- 
sion of the trunk- like roots of mangroves 
and other trees. In the network of roots, leaves 
and sea-wi'ack are caught, and mold is formed. 
Water plants (as marsh grasses and eel -grass) 
are sometimes so abundant on sea margins as 
to eventually form solid land. On the edges of 
lakes and ponds, the accumulation of water-lily 
rhizomes and other growths often affords a foot- 
hold for sedges and other semi -aquatic plants ; 
and the combined growth invades the lake and 
often fills it. Portions of this decaying and 
tangled mass are sometimes torn away by wind 



20 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

or wave, and become floating islands. Such 
islands are often several acres in extent. In 
high latitudes, where the summer's growth does 
not decay quickly, one season's growth is some- 
times added above another until a deep organic 
vsoil is formed. This is especially noticeable in 
the gradual increase in height of sphagnum 
swamps. Peat bogs are organic lands, and they 
till the beds of former lakes or swamps. Of 
course, all these organic soils contain mineral 
matter, but it is mostly such as comes from the 
decay of the plants themselves. It was origi- 
nally obtained from the earth, but is used over 
and over again ; and each year a little new 
material may be added by such plants as reacli 
into the hard land below, and by that which 
blows into the area in dust. 

33. Decaying organic matter forms mold or 
humus. The mineral elements may be said t<^ 
give "body" to the soil, but the humus is what 
gives it "life" or "heart." Humus makes soils 
dark- colored and mellow. Humus not only adds 
plant- food to the soil, but improves the physical 
condition of the soil and makes it congenial foi- 
plants. It augments the water -holding capacity 
of the soil, modifies the extremes of temperature, 
facilitates the entrance of air, and accelerates 
many chemical activities. It is the chief agent 
in the formation of loam : — a sandv loam is a 



THE CONTENTS OF THE SOIL 21 

friable soil rich in vegetable matter, the original 
basis of which is sand ; a clay loam is one simi- 
larly ameliorated, the basis of which is clay. 
"Worn-out" lands usually suffer more from 
lack of humus than from lack of actual plant- 
food, and this explains why the application of 
stable -manure is so efficacious. 

34. There are three general ways in which 
humus is obtained in farm -practice : (1) By 
means of the vegetable matter which is left on 
or in the ground after the crop is removed (as 
roots, stubble, sod, garden refuse) ; (2) by 
means of crops grown and plowed under for 
that particular purpose (green-manuring) ; (3) by 
means of direct applications to the land (as com- 
post and stable -manure). The deeper and more 
extensive the root -system of any plant, the 
greater, in general, is its value as an ameliorator 
of soil, both because it itself exerts a more wide- 
spread influence (30), and because when it de- 
cays it extends the ameliorating effects of humus 
to greater depths. 

35. Aside from these varied component ele- 
ments, fertile soil is inhabited by countless num- 
bers of microscopic organisms, which are peculiar 
to it, and without which its various chemical 
activities can not proceed. These germs con- 
tribute to the breaking down of the soil particles 
and to the decay of the organic materials, and 



22 THE PKINClPLiKtt OF AGRICULTUKK 

in doing so, aid in the formation of plant -foods. 
The soil, therefore, is not merely an inert mass, 
operated upon only by physical and chemical 
forces, but it is a realm of intense life ; and the 
discovery of this fact has radically modified our 
conception of the soil and the means of treating 
it. Enriching the land is no longer the adding 
of mere plant -food : it is also making the soil 
congenial to the multiplication and well-being 
of micro-organisms. 

2c. Transportation of soils 

36. The soil is never at rest. The particles 
move upon each other, through the action of 
water, heat and cold, and other agencies. The 
particles, whether of inorganic or organic origin, 
are also ever changing in shape and composition. 
They wear away and crumble under the action 
of weather, water, organic acids of the humus, 
and the roots of plants. No particle of soil is 
now in its original place. These changes are 
most rapid in tilled lands, because the soil is 
more exposed to weather through the tillage 
and the aerating effect of deep-rooted plants 
(as clover) ; and the stirring or tilling itself 
wears the soil particles. Even stones and pebbles 
wear away {26a) ; and the materials which they 
lose usually become productive elements of the 



THE CONTENTS OF THE SOIL 23 

soil. Some lands have very porous or "rotten" 
stones, and these pass quickly into soil. Stones 
are no doubt a useful reserve force in farm 
lands, giving up their fertility very gradually, 
and thereby saving some of the wastefulness of 
careless husbandry. The general tendency, in 
nature, is for soils to become finer, more homo- 
geneous, and better for the growth of plants. 

37. But there are greater movements than 
these. Soil is often transported long distances, 
chiefly by means of three agents: moving water, 
ice and snow, wind. Transported soils are apt 
to be very unlike the underlying rock (or origi- 
nal surface), and they are often very hetero- 
geneous or conglomerate in character. Soils 
which remain where they are formed (27) 
naturally partake of the nature of the bed- 
rock, and are generally more homogeneous than 
transported soils, as, for example, the limestone 
soils which overlie great deposits of lime -rock. 

38. Moving water always moves land. The 
beating of waves wears away rocks and stones 
and breaks up debris, and deposits the mass on 
or near the shore. Streams carry soils long 
distances. The particles may be in a state of 
suspension in the water, and be precipitated in 
the quieter parts of the stream or in bayous or 
lagoons, or they may be driven along the bed 
of the stream by the force of the current, and 



24 THE PRINCIPLES OP AGRICULTURE 

be deposited wherever obstructions occur, or be 
discharged on the delta at the mouth. The 
deposition of sediment in times of overflow 
adds new vigor to the submerged lands. The 
historic example of this is the Nile valley, 
but all bottom lands which are subjected to 
periodical overflows exhibit the same result. 
Alluvial lands are formed from the deposition 
of the sediment of water. 

39. In mountainous regions, snow and ice 
carry away great quantities of rock and soil. 
The most powerful transporters of soil are gla- 
ciers, or moving masses of ice. Glaciers loosen 
the rock and then grind and transport it. In 
the glacial epoch, in which much of the north- 
ern part of the northern hemisphere was cov- 
ered with gigantic ice- sheets slowly moving to 
the southward, enormous quantities of rock and 
earth were transported, and deposited w^herever 
the ice melted. In eastern North America, the 
ice -front advanced to the latitude of the Ohio 
river, and the boulder- strewn fields and varied 
soils to the northward of this latitude are the 
legacy which the epoch left to the farmer. 

40. In all areas which are subjected to 
periods of drought, the wind transports soils in 
the form of dust, often in great amounts and 
for long distances. In some parts of the world, 
»o much earth is carried by violent winds that 



THE CONTENTS OF THE SOIL 25 

these winds are known as "sand-storms." Most 
shores, particularly if sandy, are much modified 
by the action of wind. But the wind has an 
influence upon soils even in the most protected 
and equable regions. The atmosphere contains 
dust, much of which is valuable plant -food. 
This dust is transported by winds, and it finally 
settles or is carried down by snow and rain. 
Although the amount of dust which is deposited 
in any given time may be slight, it is neverthe- 
less continuous, and has an important effect 
upon the soil. 

3. The Resources of the Soil 

41. The soil affords a root -hold for plants, — 
a place in which they can grow. It also supplies 
the environmental conditions which roots need, — 
protection, moisture, air, agreeable temperature, 
and other congenial surroundings. 

42. The soil is also a store -house of plant- 
food. Roberts calculates, from many analyses, 
that in average agricultural lands the surface 
eight inches of soil on each acre contains over 
3,000 pounds of nitrogen, nearly 4,000 pounds 
of phosphoric acid, and over 17,000 pounds of 
potash. These three elements are the ones which 
the farmer must chiefly consider in maintaining 
or augmenting the productive power of the land ; 



26 THE PRINCIPLES OP AGRICULTURE 

yet the figures "reveal the fact that even the 
poorer soils have an abundance of plant- food 
for several crops, while the richer soils in 
some cases have sufficient for two hundred to 
three hundred crops of wheat or maize." Yet 
these calculations are made from only the 
upper eight inches of soil. 

43. Happily, this food is not all directly 
available or useful to plants (being locked up 
in insoluble combinations), else it would have 
been exhausted by the first generations of 
farmers. It is gradually unlocked by weather, 
micro-organisms, and the roots of plants ; and 
the better the tillage, the more rapid is its 
utilization. Plants differ in the power to unlock 
or make use of the fertility of the soil. 

44. Nature maintains this store of fertility 
by returning her crops to the soil. Every 
tree of the forest finally crumbles into earth. 
She uses the materials, then gives them back 
in a refined and improved condition for other 
plants to use. She repays, and with interest. 

45. Man removes the crops. He sends them 
to market .in one form or another, and the 
materials are finally lost in sewage and the 
sea. He sells the productive power of his 
land ; yet it does not follow that he impoverishes 
his soil in proportion to the plant -food which he 
sells. Given the composition of any soil and 



THE CONTENTS OF THE SOIL J< 

of the crops which it is to produce, it is easy to 
calculate the time when the soil will have lost 
its power ; but it must be remembered that the 
materials which the plant removes are consumed, 
and that the volume of the soil is reduced by 
that amount. The result is, therefore, that the 
deeper parts of the soil are brought into requi- 
sition as fast as the upper parts are consumed ; 
and these depths will last as long as the earth 
lasts. 

46. Of some materials, however, the plant 
uses more freely than of others, in proportion to 
their abundance in the soil. Therefore the soil 
may finally lose its productivity, although it is 
doubtful if it can ever be completely exhausted 
of plant -food. 

47. Again, the profit in agriculture often lies 
in making the soil produce more abundantly 
than it is of itself able to do. That is, even 
after tillage and every other care have forced 
the soil to respond to its full ability, it may 
pay the farmer to buy plant- food in bags in the 
same way that it may pay him to buy ground 
feed when fattening sheep. Whether it is ad- 
visable to buy this plant -food is a matter of 
business judgment which every farmer must 
determine for himself, after having considered 
the three fundamental factors in the problem : 
the cost of the plant-food (or fertilizer), the 



28 THE PRINCIPLES Ol'' AUK1CUL.TUBE 

probable effect of this extra food upon the crop, 
and the commercial value of the extra crop. In 
general, it should be considered that in mixed 
husbandry the fertility of the land must be 
maintained by means of farm -practice (that is, 
by good farming), and that plant- food should 
be bought only for the purpose of producing the 
extra product. 

48. We are now able to comprehend that 
the soil is a compound of numberless inorganic 
and organic materials, a realm of complex 
physical and chemical forces, and the scene of 
an intricate round of life. We must no longer 
think of it as mere dirt. Moreover, we are only 
beginning to understand it; and if the very soil 
is unknown to us, how complicated must be the 
great structure of agriculture which is reared 
upon it ! 

SUGGJtJSTIOXS ox CHAPTER I 

25rt. The word organic refers to unimals and plants or their 
products and remains ; that is, to things which live and have 
organs. Organic compounds, in chemistry, are those which 
have been built up or produced by the action of a plant oi' 
animal. Modern usage, however, defines organic compounds as 
those which contain carbon. Starch, sugar, woody fiber, are 
examples. 

256. Inorganic compounds are such as are not produced by 
living organisms, as all the mineral compounds. They are 
found in the earth and air. Salt, potash, iron and gold, 
lime, are examples. 



THE CONTENTS OF THE SOIL 



29 



25c. The ovgauic matter in soils — ttie plant and animal 
remains — is removed by burning. Let the pupil secure a cupful 
of wet soil and carefully weigh it on delicate scales. Then let 
it dry in the sun, and weigh again ; the difference in weight is 




'^^•^4^ 






Fig. 1. .Showinii the wearing 



away of mountain peaks and the formation of 
soil at the base. 



due to tlie loss or evaporation of water. Now place it in a 
moderately warm oven or on a stove, and after a few minutes 
weigh again ; more of the water will now have passed off. Now 
thoroughly burn or bake it, and weigh ; the loss is now mostly 
due to the burning of the organic matter, and part of this 
matter has passed off as gas. If there is no perceptible loss 
from the burning, it is evidence that the sample contained little 
organic matter. Note the difference in results between clay and 
muck. The pupil may also be interested to try to grow plants 
in the baked soil. 



30 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

2firt. The wearing away of rock by the weather may be ob- 
served wherever stones are exposed. Even granite and marble 
monuments lose their polish and luster in a few years. The 
sharp and angular projections disappear from the ledges and 
broken stones of railway cuts and quarries. The pupil should 
look for the wear on any rocks with which he may be familiar. 
All stones tend to grow smaller. On a large scale, the wasting 
of rocks may be seen in the debris at the base of precipices and 
mountain peaks (Fig. 1), or wherever steep walls of rock are 
exposed. The palisades of the Hudson, and other precipitous 
river and lake bluffs, show this action well. Mountains tend to 
become rounded in the long processes of time, although some 
rocks are of such structure that they hold their pointed shape 
until worn almost completely away. In Geikie's "Geological 
Sketches," Essay No. 8, the reader will find an interesting 
account of weathering as illustrated by the decay of tombstones. 

266. The extent of this weathering and denuding process in 
the formation of soils may be graphically illustrated by the pres- 
ent conformation of the Alps and adjacent parts of Europe. 
Lubbock writes that "much of the deposits which occupy the 
valleys of the Rhine, Po, Rhone, Reuss, Inn, and Danube — the 
alluvium which forms the plains of Lombardy, of Germany, of 
Belgium, Holland, and of southeast France — consists of materials 
washed down from the Swiss mountains." The amount of mate- 
rial which has been removed from the Alps is probably "almost 
as great as that which still remains." So great has been the 
denudation that in certain cases "what is now the top of the 
mountain was once the bottom of a valley." The Matterhorn, the 
boldest and one of the highest of the Alps, "is obviously a rem- 
nant of an ancient ridge," and the "present configuration of the 
surface [of Switzerland] is indeed mainly the result of denuda- 
tion. * * It is certain that not a fragment of the original sur- 
face is still in existence, though it must not be inferred that the 
mountains were at any time so much higher, as elevation and 
denudation went on together." There is even evidence to show 
that an earlier range of mountains occupied the site of the 
present Alps, and that these old mountains were removed or 



THE CONTENTS OF THE SOIL 



31 



worn away by denudation. — See Sir John Luhhock, ^^ Scenery 9f 
Switzerland," Chaps, in. and iv. 

29a. Even hard surfaces of rock often support lichens, 
mosses, and other humble plants. "The plant is co-partner 
with the weather in the building of the primal soils. The lichen 
spreads its thin substance over the rock, sending its fibers into 
the crevices and filling the chinks, 
as they enlarge, with the decay 
of its own structure ; and finally 
the rock is fit for the moss or 
fern or creeping vine, each new- 
comer leaving its impress by which 
some later newcomer may profit. 
Finally the rock is disintegrated 
and comminuted, and is ready to 
be still further elaborated by corn 
and ragweed. Nature intends to 
leave no vacant or bare places. 
She providently covers the rail- 
way embankment with quack -grass 
or willows, and she scatters daisies 
in the old meadows where the land 
has grown sick and tired of grass." 
— Principles of Fruit- G^rowing, 176. 

30rt. It is interesting to consider the general reasons for the 
evolution of the root. Plants were at first aquatic, and probably 
absorbed food from the water on all their surfaces. They may 
not have been attached to the earth. As they were driven into 
a more or less terrestrial life by the receding of the waters and 
as a result of the struggle for existence, they developed parts 
which penetrated the earth. These parts were probably only 
hold-fasts at first, as the roots of many seaweeds are at the pres- 
ent time. But as it became less and less possible for the general 
surface of the plant to absorb food, the hold-fast gradually be- 
came a food -gathering or feeding member. — See Survival of the 
Unlike, j^P- 41-43. 

306. If the pupil has access to ledges of rock on which trees 




Fig. 2. The halves of a rock forced 
apart by the growth of a tree. 



32 



THE PKINOIPLKS OF A(tK1CULTUKE 



are growing, he will readily be able to satisfy himself that roots 
force open cracks and thereby split and sever the stone. Fig. 2 
is an example, showing how a black cherry tree, gaining a 
foothold in a crevice, has gradually forced the parts of the rock 








Fig. 3. Lichens have obtained a foothold. 



asunder. This particular example is the "half-way stone" be- 
tween the Michigan Agricultural College and the city of Lansing. 
Fig. 3 shows a stone upon which lichens have obtained a foot- 
hold. Any person who has worked much in a garden will have 
seen how roots often surround a bone, taking their food from its 
surface and insinuating themselves into the cracks. Eoots will 
corrode or eat out the surface of marble. The grinding up of stones 
is well illustrated on any lake shore, where the pebbles represent 
what is left at the present time of the stones and fragments. The 
rolling stones in brooks represent a similar action. 

30c. By chemical action is meant the change from which results 
a new chemical combination. It produces a rearrangement of 
molecules. For example, the change which takes place when, by 



THE CONTENTS OP^ THE SOIL 33 

uniting lime and sulfuric acid, sulfate of lime or gypsum is pro- 
duced, is chemical action. 

31a. Knowledge of the work of the earthworm in building 
soils dates practically from the issue of Darwin's remarkable 
book, "The Formation of Vegetable Mould, through the Action of 
Worms," which the reader should consult for particulars. The 
subject is also considered briefly in King's "Soil," Chap, i., which 
also discusses the general means of soil -building. 

32«. As an example of the formation of organic soils in the 
tropics, read accounts of the mangrove. Its mode of propagation 










Fig. 4. A delta in an oixhar 



IS explained, with illustrations, in Bailey's "Lessons with Plants," 
pp. 371-374 ; the tree is also described in Chap. v. of Gaye's 
"Great World's Farm." As an example of a formation of a peat 
bog by the growth of sphagnum, read Ganong "On Raised Peat- 
bogs in New Brunswick," Botanical Gazette, pp. 123-126, May, 
1891. Sphagnum is moss which grows in cold bogs. Nurserymen 
and florists use it in the packing of plants. 



34 



THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 



33a. When spelled humus, the word is a noun; when spelled 
humous, it is an adjective, as "humous soils." 

34a. Compost is decayed or decaying organic matter which it 
is intended shall be applied to the land. It is usually obtained 
by placing leaves, sod, manure or litter in a low flat-topped (so 
that it will catch the rain) pile, and "turning it," or forking it 




Fig. 5. A compost pile. 



over, every few weeks, to prevent heating and to hasten uniform 
decomposition (Fig. 5). When the mass has passed into the 
condition of humus or mold (or become fine and soil-like), it is 
applied to the land. Composting is a most useful means of 
utilizing leaves, garden refuse, and other materials which are 
too coarse or "raw" to be applied directly to the land. 

35a. "The term micro-organism is a general one, which 
includes any very minute, microscopic form of life. More strictly 
speaking, the word has come to apply especially to certain forms 
of plant life which are too minute to be seen individually by the 
naked eye, and which hence require for their study the higher 
powers of the microscope." — Fred'k D. Chester, Bull, xl., Del. 



THE CONTENTS OF THE SOIL 35 

Exp. Sta. The terms germ, microbe, bacterium (plural bacteria), 
are popularly used in the same sense as micro-organism. These 
beings are usually unicellular (each one consisting of only a 
single cell). They are generally classified with plants. The role 
of micro-organisms in rendering soil elements available to plants 
is very complex and not yet well understood. A general dis- 
cussion of these organisms will be found in Lipman's " Bacteria 
in Relation to Country Life." The relation to germs in nitrification 
is briefly discussed in King's "Soil," pp. 125-134, and Roberts' 
"Fertility," 244-248. Fig. 6 illustrates one of the ^ ^j^ 

common bacteria, very much magnified. This ^^ ^^^ 

species (Bacillus tiiiquitus) is abundant in water, 6>^ ^> 
air, and decaying substances. " q^ ^ 

38a. Observe the deposits of sand in the quiet ^^ 

side (usually the concave side) of streams, and Fig. 6. Micro-or- 
also the delta where a rapid rill flows into a slow saJ^'s^s, greatly 
one. When the rill flows into a rapid stream, 
the larger current can'ies away the deposit so that it may not be 
seen. Recall how sand-bars form again and again in lakes, and 
how streams must be frequently dredged to keep the channel 
open. The slower the stream the more quickly does it drop its 
sediment ; and the more winding, also, is its course, lying in the 
bed of its own deposits. (See Fig. 4.) 

dSb. Dip a glass of water from a roily stream, and observe 
the earth which settles to the bottom. 

39«. Glaciers are still abundant in alpine and arctic regions. 
It was from the study of glaciers in the Alps that Agassiz con- 
ceived the hypothesis that large parts of the earth had once 
been subjected to glacial action. A good popular discussion of 
glaciers and their action may be found in Chap. xvii. of Tarr's 
"Elementary Physical Geography." Delightful readings may also 
be made from Agassiz's "Geological Sketches." 

40a. Let the pupil catch a few rain drops on a perfectly clean 
and clear pane of glass, and observe if any sediment is left when 
the drops have evaporated. Is there any difference in the amount 
of dust brought down after a " dry spell " and after a period of 
rainy weather, or at the beginning and end of a shower '? The 



36 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

pupil may now be able to explain why the windows get dirty after 
a rain ; and he will be interested in the streaks on the cornices 
of buildings and on exposed statuary. He may have heard that 
even sailing ships get dusty when at sea. 

42rt. See Roberts' "Fertility of the Land," p. 16. Read all 
of Chapter i. The food which is not available, or not in condi- 
tion to be used by the plant, but which may become available 
thrpugh good tillage or otherwise, is called potential plant-food. 

43o. The soil is not a simple reservoir of plant- food in the 
condition of salt or sugar, ready to be dissolved in water and 
immediately taken up by roots. The soil is plant-food ; but 
most of it must be changed in composition before it is available 
to plants ; and the elements are not present in the proportions 
which plants require, so that much of the soil is in excess of the 
needs of plants and can never be used as food. 

48«. For supplementary reading on the formation of soils, 
Chapter i. of King's "Soil" should be consulted. Most text-books 
of geology also treat the subject to some extent. Shaler's article 
on soil, in 12th Annual Report of the U. S. Geological Survey 
(pp. 319-345), is excellent. A discussion of weathering may be 
found in Chapter vi. of Tarr's "Elementary Geology;" and other 
references arecontaimed in Chapters xiii.and xxi. of his "Elemen- 
tary Physical Geography." Stockbridge's "Rocks and Soils" 
(1895) has special reference to agriculture. A readable account 
of the formation of soil may be found in Chapters iii., iv. and v., 
Gaye's "Great Word's Farm." Merrill's "Rocks, Rock -Weather- 
ing and Soils" (1897) is a full scientific discussion of the subject. 
Consult Hilgard's "Soils," and the text by Lyon and Fippin; also 
the part on soils in Vol. I, Cyclopedia of American Agriculture. 



Chapter II 
THE TEXTURE AND STRUCTURE OF THE SOIL 

1. What Is Meant by Texture 

49. We have seen that the offices of the soil 
are of two general kinds, — it affords a physical 
medium in which the plant can grow (41), and 
it supplies materials that the plant uses in 
the building of its tissues (42). It cannot be 
said that one of these offices is more important 
than the other, since both are essential; but 
attention has been so long fixed upon the mere 
content of soils that it is important to empha- 
size the physical attributes. Crops cannot grow 
on a rock, no matter how much plant-food it 
may contain. The passing of rock into soil 
is a matter of change in texture and structure 
more than in plant-food. Texture refers to the 
size of the particles ; structure to the arrange- 
ment of the particles. 

50. The physical state of the soil may be 
spoken of as its structure, much as we speak of 
the structure of a house of brick or stone. The 
common adjectives that are applied to the condi- 
tion of agricultural soils are descriptions of its 

(37) 



38 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

structure: as, mellow, hard, loose, compact, open, 
porous, shallow, deep, leachy, retentive, lumpy, 
cloddy, fine in good tilth. 

51. Texture and structure must not be con- 
founded with the physical forces or operations in 
the soil, as the fluctuations of temperature, move- 
ments of water, circulation of air. They refer to 
condition or state, and are passive, not to forces 
or movements, which are active; but it is upon 
this passive condition that the operation of both 
physical and chemical forces chiefly depends. 

2. Why Good Texture and Structure are Important 

52. A finely divided, mellow, friable soil is 
more productive than a hard and lumpy one of 
the same chemical composition, because: It 
holds and retains more moisture; holds more 
air; promotes nitrification; hastens the decom- 
position of the mineral elements; has less varia- 
ble extremes of temperature; allows a better 
root-hold to the plant; presents greater surface 
to the roots. In all these ways, and others, the 
mellowness of the soil renders the plant-food 
more available, and affords a congenial and 
comfortable place in which the plant may grow. 

53. Grood structure (as understood by the far- 
mer) not only facilitates and hastens the physi- 
cal and chemical activities, but it also presents 



THE TEXTURE OF THE SOIL 39 

a greater feeding -surface to roots, because the 
particles of earth are very small (52) . Roots 
feed on the surfaces of hard particles of earth, 
and the feeding- area is therefore increased in 
proportion to the increase in the surface area 
of the particles. Dividing a cube into two 
equal parts increases its surface area by one- 
third. (Dividing a cube adds two sides or 
surfaces.) Fining the soil may therefore be 
equivalent to fertilizing it, so far as plant - 
growth is concerned. 

3. How Good Structure is Secured 

54.^ The size of the soil particles, determin- 
ing the texture of the soil, cannot be modified to 
any appreciable extent by ordinary farm practices. 
Tillage has little effect in changing the size of 
the ultimate particles. 

55. The arrangement of the particles, which 
determines the structure, can be greatly changed 
by farm practice. If the structure is lumpy and 
open, the soil needs pulverization; if it is com- 
pact and hard, it needs loosening up. Very 
loose and leachy soils are usually improved if 
the particles, particularly in the under soil, are 
brought together and compacted. 

56. The size of the granules (or aggregations 
of particles) of soils is modified by three general 



40 PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

means: (a) by apply mechanical force, as in all 
the operations of tilling; (b) by setting at work 
various physical forces, as weathering (fall-plow- 
ing is a typical example), and the results follow- 
ing under-draining; (c) by applying some ma- 
terial that acts chemically on the particles. (The 
first caption, a, is illustrated in paragraphs 26, 
2Ga, 26&, 27, 28; and it is further explained in 
Chapter iv.) 

57. (6) Under-drainage has two general uses, 
— it removes superfluous water, and improves 
the physical condition of the soil. The latter 
use is often the more important. The improve- 
ment of the texture is the result, chiefly, of 
preventing water-soaking and of admitting air. 
Under- drained soils become "deeper." The water- 
table is lowered, since the depth at which water 
stands tends to approach nearer and nearer to 
the depth of the drains and thereby the plant 
roots are enabled to penetrate more deeply. 

58. (r) Some substances have the power to 
break down or to pulverize hard soils, or to bind 
together loose ones, or otherwise to modify the 
structure. Such materials — which are applied 
for their remote or secondary chemical effects — 
are called amendments. Lime is a typical ex- 
ample. Quick-lime is known to make clay lands 
mellow, and it is supposed to cement or bind 
together the particles of sands or gravels. Most 



THE TEXTURE OF THE SOIL 41 

chemical fertilizers are both amendments and 
direct fertilizers, since they modify the structure 
of the soil as well as add plant -food to it. 

59. The extraneous or supplementary ma- 
terials (54) which directly modify the structure 
of soils are those that make humus (33), 
as green-manures, farm-manures, and the like. 
Stable-manure is usually more important in im- 
proving soil structure than in directly supplying 
plant-food. 

4. Structure and Manures 

60. We have now seen that the farmer 
should give attention to the structure of his soil 
before he worries about its richness. The con- 
ditions must first be made fit or comfortable 
for the growing of plants: then the stimulus 
of special or high feeding may be applied. 
But manures and fertilizers may aid in secur- 
ing this good structure at the same time that 
they add plant-food. Yet fertilizer, however 
rich, may be applied to soils wholly without 
avail; and the best results from condensed 
or chemical fertilizers are usually secured on 
soils that are in the best tilth. That is, it is 
almost useless to apply commercial fertilizers 
to lands that are not in proper physical con- 
dition for the best growth of crops. 



42 



THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 



SUGGESTIONS ON CHAPTER II 

49a. The following extracts from Bulletin 119 of the Cor- 
nell Experiment Station illustrate the subject under discussion: 
"The other day, I secured one sample of soil from a very hard 
clay knoll upon which beans had been planted, but in which 
they were almost unable to germinate; another sample from a 




Fig. 7. Examples of poor and good texture. 

contiguous soil, in which beans were growing luxuriantly; and, 
as a third sample, I chipped a piece of rock off my house, which 
is built of stone of the neighborhood. All of these samples were 
taken to the chemist for analysis. The samples of soil which 
were actually taken to the chemist are shown in Fig. 7. The 
rock (sample III), was hard native stone." 

The figures give the percentages of some of the leading con- 
stituents in the three materials. 



Phosphoric Organic 

Moisture ^itroaen acid Potash Lime matter 



I. Unprodtictive clay.. 


. 13.25 


.08 


.20 


1.1 


.41 


3.19 


II. Good beau land 


. 15.95 


.11 


.17 


.75 


.61 


5.45 


III. Rock 






.08 


2.12 


2.55 





"In other words, the chemist says that the poorer soil — the 
one upon which I cannot grow beans — is the richer in mineral 



THE TEXTURE OF THE SOIL 43 

plant-food, and that the rock contains a most abundant supply 
of potash and about half as much phosphoric acid as the good 
bean soil. 

"All this, after all, is not surprising, when we come to think 
of it. Every good farmer knows that a hard and lumpy soil 
will not grow good crops, no matter how much plant-food it 
may contain. A clay soil which has been producing good crops 
for any number of years may be so serioiisly injured by one 
injudicious plowing in a wet time as to ruin it for the grow- 
ing of crops for two or three years. The injury lies in the 
modification of its physical structure, not in the lessening of its 
plant-food. A sandy soil may also be seriously impaired for 
the growing of any crop if the humus, or decaying organic 
matter, lis allowed to burn out of it. It then becomes leachy, 
it quickly loses its moisture, and it becomes excessively hot 
in bright sunny weather. Similar remarks may be applied to 
nil soils. That is, the texture and structure or phyxical condition of 
lite soil is nearly always more important than its mere richness in 
plant-food. 

"■ The first step in the eni-ichment of unproductive land is 
to improve its physical condition by means of careful and 
thorough tillage, by the addition of humus, and, perhaps, by 
imder-drainage. It must first be put in such condition that plants 
can grow in it. After that, the addition of chemical fertilizers 
may pay by giving additional or redundant growth." 

53a. Read Chapter ii. in King's "Soil." The following is 
quoted from that work, p. 72: "Suppose we take a marble 
exactly one inch in diameter. It will just slip inside a cube 
one inch on a side, and will hold a film of water 3.1416 square 
inches in area. But reduce the diameters of the marbles to one- 
tenth of an inch, and at least 1,000 of them will be required to 
fill the cubic inch, and their aggregate surface area will be 
31 416 square inches. If, however, the diameters of these spheres 
be reduced to one-hundredth of an inch, 1,000,000 of them 
will be required to make a cubic inch, and their total surface 
area will then be 314.16 square inches. Suppose, again, the soil 
particles to have a diameter of one -thousandth of an inch. It 



44 THE PKINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

will then require 1,000,000,000 of them to completely fill the 
cubic inch, while their aggregate surface area must measure 
3141.59 square inches." 

53b. Another illustration may be taken ("Texture of Soil 
and Conservation of Moisture," being a first lesson in the Cornell 
farmer's reading course): "Let us suppose the soil in one of 
your plowed fields is in little lumps of the uniform size of inch 
cubes — that is, one square inch on each side of the cube. How 
many square inches of surface has that cube exposed to root 
contact and moisture film ? Now imagine that one of these inch 
cubes is broken up into smaller cubes measuring one -eighth of 
an inch, — how many square inches of surface will you now have 
exposed to root contact and film moisture ? Now reflect what 
you have done in breaking up the inch cube of earth. The 
amount of earth has not been increased one atom ; yet, by fining 
it, you have increased just eight times the root pasturage and 
surface for water film. The practical point of this lesson is that 
by superior tillage you can expand one acre into eight, or by 
neglectful management eight acres can be reduced to one. It 
also demonstrates why a skillful farmer can produce as much 
from fifty acres as a careless one can from four hundred, and 
also confirms the assertion that success in modern agriculture 
depends more on the size of the farmer than upon the size of 
the farm." 

53c. This lining or dividing of the soil, therefore, increases 
the feeding area for roots ; or, as Jethro TuU said, it extends 
the "root pasturage." "The value of simple tillage or fining of 
the land as a means of increasing its productivity was first clearly 
set forth in 1733 by Jethro Tull, in his 'New Horse Hoeing Hus- 
bandry.' The premises upon which Tull founded his system are 
erroneous. He supposed that plant roots actually take . in or ab- 
sorb the fine particles of the earth, and, therefore, the finer and 
more numerous these particles the more luxuriantly the plant 
will grow. His system of tillage, however, was correct, and his 
experiments and writings have had a most profound influence. 
If only one book of all the thousands which have been written on 
agriculture and rural affairs were to be preserved to future gen- 



THE TEXTURE OF THE SOIL 



45 



erations, I should want that honor conferred upon Tull's 'Horse 
Hoeing Husbandry.' It marked the beginning of the modern 
application of scientific methods to agriculture, and promulgated 
a system of treatment of the land which, in its essential princi- 
ples, is now accepted by every good farmer, and the appreciation 
of which must increase to the end of time." — Bailey, Bull. 119, 
Cornell Exp. Sta. Tull died in 1740. 

57a. " The actual contour of the water-table in an under- 
drained field, where the lines of tile are placed at distances of 
33 feet and 4 feet below the surface of the ground, is shown in 
Fig. 8, which gives the contours as they existed forty- eight hours 




Fig. 8. Showing the actual contour of the water-table in a tile-draiued field. 



after a rainfall of .87 inches. In this case the height of tlir 
water midway between the lines of tile varied from 4 inches t(i 
12 inches above the tops of the tile." — King, The Soil, p. 250. 

58a. Read Roberts' "Fertility of the Land," pp. 303-31'J, on 
the physical effects of liming land ; also "The Soil," p. 30, and 
Wheeler's >" Liming of Soils," Farmers' Bulletin No. 77, U. S. 
Dept. Agrie. The effects of lime in flocculating or mellowing 
clay may be observed by working up a ball of stiff clay with 
common water and a similar ball with lime water ; the former 
will become hard on drying, but the latter will readily fall to 
pieces. Lime water may be made by shaking up a lump of lime 
in a bottle of water. 

60a. One of the most forcible illustrations of the value of 
fine texture of soil is afforded bv the result which the florist 



46 



THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 



obtains in pots. He mixes and sifts his soils so that it is all 
amenable to root action, and he is able to raise a larger plant from 
a handful of soil than the general farmer grows from a half 
bushel. See Fig. 9. 



>r.*&l. 




Fig. 9. Showing the possibilities of a potful of soil. 



Chaptee III 
THE MOISTURE IN THE SOIL 

L. A. CLINTON 

1. Why Moisture Is Important 

61. However much plant- food there may be 
in the soil, plants cannot grow without the 
presence of water. Water is needed for three 
purposes: to dissolve the plant -food and thereby 
enable it to enter the plant; to contribute to the 
building of plant tissue and to the maintenance of 
the life of the plant; and to regulate temperature. 

62. A consideration of the amount of water 
required by plants in their growth shows why 
supplying plant -food alone does not insure the 
success of the crop. The amount of water used 
by some of the common crops in their develop- 
ment to maturity is approximately as follows : 

Corn 50 bus. per acre requires 1,500,000 lbs. of water. 

Potatoes ... 200 bus. " " 1,268,000 lbs. 

Oats 29 bus. " " 1,192,000 lbs. 

63. The failure of crops is more frequently 
due to improper control of moisture than to any 

(47) 



48 THE PRINCIPLES OP AGRICULTURE 

other one cause. In certain sections of the coun- 
try irrigation is successfully employed; but 
most farmers must depend on the rainfall as the 
chief source for the supply of moisture. 

2. How Water Is Held in the Soil 

64. The water in the soil may be in one of 
three forms, — free, capillary, or hygroscopic 
water. 

65. The free water of the soil is that which 
flows under the influence of gravity. It is this 
water which is removed in part by drains, and 
which is the source of supply for wells and 
springs. It is not utilized directly by cultivated 
plants, but it is valuable when removed a 
proper distance from the surface, because it 
serves as a reservoir from which moisture may 
be drawn by capillary action. 

66. Capillary water is that which is held by 
adhesion to the soil particles, or in the inter- 
stices or openings between the particles. It is 
not controlled or influenced by gravity, but 
passes from one part of the soil to another, 
tending to keep the soil in equilibrium (or in 
uniform condition) so far as its moisture is 
concerned. The capillary water is the direct 
supply for plants, and it is this which should 
be most carefully provided for and saved. 



THE MOISTURE IN THE SOIL 49 

67. Hygroscopic water is that which is held 
firmly as a film surrounding each particle of 
soil. It does not move under the influence of 
gravity or capillarity, and it is held so firmly 
that it is driven off only when the soil is 
exposed to a temperature of 212° Falir. The 
dryest road- dust firmly holds its hygroscopic 
water, and it may constitute from 2 to 3 per 
cent or more of the weight of the soil. If of 
service to plants in any way, it is only dur- 
ing the most excessive droughts, in which case 
it may sustain the plants for a time, until 
capillary water is supplied. 

68. Both capillary and hygroscopic water are 
frequently referred to as "film moisture," from 
the fact that they are held as a film of greater 
or less thickness around the soil particles. 
That part which has the most intimate and 
permanent contact with the particle is the hygro- 
scopic water, and the outer part of the film, 
which may move away from the soil particle, is 
the capillary water. Very wet land is that 
which contains too much free water ; whereas, 
soils which are dryish and crumbly usually 
contain sufficient water for the growing of 
plants. That is, lands in good condition for 
the growing of crops are moist, not wet ; and 
we may, therefore, speak of the moisture of the 
soil rather than the water of the soil. 

D 



50 THE PRINCIPLES OP AGRICULTURE 

69. The free water of the soil is found at 
varying depths. Frequently it comes to the sur- 
face and oozes out as springs. Again it is many 
feet below the surface. The supply is main- 
tained by rainfall, that part which is not held 
by capillary attraction or removed by surface 
drainage passing down to the level of the free 
water. In soils which are very porous and 
open, as gravelly soils, a large part of the rain- 
fall passes down quickly, and such soils are 
said to be "leachy." With soils that are fine 
and compact and impervious, as in many clays, 
the water runs off by surface drainage, and 
not only is the supply of capillary water not 
increased to any perceptible degree, but the 
surface flowing removes valuable plant -food, 
causes erosion, and increases dangers from 
floods. Under these circumstances rainfall may 
be a detriment. 

3. How the Moisture- Jioldmg Capacity of the 
Soil May he Increased 

3a. The capacity of the soil 

70. The first step toward utilizing the water 
of the soil is to so fit the land that the rainfall, 
may be stored. In the winter months a large 
percentage of the rainfall is removed by surface 



THE MOISTURE IN THE SOIL 



51 



drainage, and in the summer months by evapo- 
ration. The soil should be put into such con- 
dition in the fall that it can readily absorb the 
winter rainfall. If the surface is hard, smooth 
and compacted, as is often the case with clay 
soils, it should be loosened with the plow and 
be left rough and uneven. If there is danger of 
surface erosion or washing, some quick-germi- 
nating seed (as rye or pea) may be sown in 
early fall. The plants prevent the rain from 
flowing away rapidly, and the roots bind the 
particles of soil in place. 

71. The capacity of the soil to hold water 
depends upon its original constitution (whether 
clay, loam, sand, etc.) and upon the treatment 
which it has received. If the humus or decay- 
ing organic matter has been depleted, its mois- 
ture-holding capacity is diminished. 

72. The capacity of the different soils to hold 
capillary and hygroscopic water (when dried at 
a temperature of 144°) is shown by the follow- 
ing-table : 



Kind of soil 
Silicious sand . 
Sandy clay 
Loamy clay . . 
Stiff brick-clay 
Humns ... 
G-arden mold 



Per cent (by weight) 

of moisture held 

in soil 

25 

40 

50 

61 

181 
89 



Per cent (by vol- 
ume) held in 
soil 

37.9 
51.4 
57.3 
62.9 
69.8 
67 o 



Pounds of water 

in 1 cu. ft. 

of soil 

27.3 
38.8 
41.4 
45.4 
50.1 
48.4 



52 THE PSINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

36. Capacity is increased by the addition of humus 

73. A study of the above table reveals the 
fact that the humous soil (33) far exceeds any 
of the others in its ability to hold moisture. 
By long- continued cropping and tilling, without 
making proper returns in the way of green- 
manures or barn -manures, the humus may be 
so reduced that the soil consists very largely of 
mineral matter. One reason why newly cleared 
lands frequently give more satisfactory returns 
than lands which have been long cropped, 
is that the fresh land is rich in humus. The 
soil is consequently open and porous, and the 
rain which falls is quickly absorbed, and is 
largely retained as capillary or hygroscopic 
water. 

74. The humus of the soil may be gradually 
increased by plowing under green -crops, by the 
use of barn- manures, by using cover- crops 
during the late summer and fall and plowing 
them under in the spring before they have 
used up the moisture which should be saved 
for the succeeding crop. These practices can 
be overdone, however, and the soil made so 
loose and open that the winds cause it to 
dry out quickly, and the power of drawing 
moisture from the stores of free water will be 
greatly lessened. 



THE MOISTURE IN THE SOIL 53 

3c. Capacity may be increased by under -drainage 

75. Drainage has an intimate relation to soil 
moisture. By drainage is meant the means 
employed for the removal of the surplus free 
water. Surface or open ditches may serve as 
conduits to carry off surface water, but as soil 
drains they are failures. The correct method 
for removing the surplus water of rainfall is to 
cause it to sink into the soil and be removed 
by under -drains. That which is removed by 
surface flow fails to impart any beneficial effect 
to the soil (69). 

76. Lands which are well under -drained are 
porous. The rain which falls upon them passes 
down quickly, and is not removed by surface 
flow. It is removed only when the level of the 
free water rises to the level of the drain. By 
observing the action of drains which are of dif- 
ferent depths, it has been found that after a 
protracted drought the drains which begin to 
flow fil'st are those which are at the greatest 
depth, showing that as the level of the free 
water rises to the drain the flow begins, and 
that it is not removed to any considerable ex- 
tent in its downward passage. 

77. The sinking of the water through the soil 
does more good than merely to supply moisture. 
In the spring the rain is warmer than the soil, 



54 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGKICULTUBE 

and in passing down it gives up some of its 
heat, and the soil temperature is thereby raised. 
In the summer the rain is the cooler, and the 
soil parts with some of its heat. On lands 
which have been thoroughly under -drained, crops 
are far better able to withstand drought than 
those on land which needs drainage. 

78. Few cultivated plants can thrive with 
their roots in free water. When the free water 
is near the surface, it is injurious in several 
ways : it limits the feeding space ; it makes the 
soil cold in spring; it occupies the space which 
should be filled with air ; it causes plant- food to 
be locked up ; it dilutes the plant -food in solu- 
tion; it prevents the action of micro-organisms; 
it causes the rainfall to be carried off largely by 
surface drainage. Thorough under -drainage tends 
to remove all these unfavorable conditions. If 
there is no effective under -drainage, either by 
natural or artificial channels, the water must 
escape by surface evaporation. 

M. The capacity is increased by proper tillage 

79. Tillage enables soils to hold moisture by 
two means : by increasing the depth of the soil 
in which the plants can grow (that is, by in- 
creasing the depth of the reservoir), and by 
increasing the capillary power of the soil. We 



THE MOISTURE IN THE SOIL 55 

have already seen (57, 75-78) that draining in- 
creases the depth of the soil ; so does deep plow- 
ing. Capillarity is increased by finely dividing 
or pulverizing the soil. 

80. Increasing the capillarity increases the 
moisture -holding capacity of soils in two ways : 
it enables the soil to actually hold more mois- 
ture per square inch ; it enables it to draw 
up moisture from the free water of the lower 
subsoil (65). 

81. By the action of capillary attraction, 
moisture moves from one layer of soil to another 
(66), usually from the lower to the upper, to 
supply the place of that which has been used 
by plants, or which has been lost by evapora- 
tion. The rapidity of movement and the force 
with which it is held depend upon various 
conditions. A soil in which the particles are 
somewhat large, as in sandy or gravelly soils, 
may, if well compacted, show considerable ra- 
pidity of movement, but weak power to retain 
moisture. The finer the division of the soil 
particles the greater is the surface presented. 
In finely divided clay soils, the movement of 
capillary water is slow but the retaining power 
is great. Occasionally it happens that the par- 
ticles are so fine that the spaces disappear, and 
there is produced a condition through which 
moisture and air cannot pass. This state of 



56 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

affairs is produced when clay soils are "puddled." 
It is evident, therefore, that soils which are 
either very loose or exceedingly finely pulverized 
are not in the best condition for the holding of 
moisture ; but the danger of over -pulverizing is 
very small. 

4. TJie Conservation of Moisture 

82. By conservation of moisture is meant 
the prevention of all unnecessary waste of the 
capillary water of the soil, either through weeds 
or by evaporation. It is the saving and utiliz- 
ing of moisture. The object is to make the 
water which seeks to escape from the surface 
pass through the cultivated plants. Plants re- 
quire that their food be in solution. The 
moisture of the soil contains plant- food in 
solution. If this moisture is permitted to 
escape from the surface by evaporation, it 
leaves the plant- food at the surface. This food 
cannot nourish plants, because it is out of the 
range of their feeding roots. If the escape of 
the moisture is through the plants, there is 
created a moisture current towards the roots, 
and the plant -food is carried where it can be 
used to advantage. 

83. Moisture rapidly rises to the surface 
by capillarity, to replace that which has evapo- 



THE MOISTURE IN THE SOIL 57 

rated or has been used by plants, if the soil is 
in proper physical condition. Measures should 
be adopted to prevent this moisture from be- 
ing lost by evaporation. The most practical 
and effective method is by establishing and 
maintaining a surface mulch of soil. By fre- 
quent use of implements of tillage, which loosen 
the soil to a depth of two or three inches, this 
mulch may be preserved and the moisture 
saved. The drier and looser this mulch, the 
more effective it is. This dry and loose surface 
breaks the capillary connection between the air 
and the moist under- soil, and has the effect of 
interposing a foreign body between the atmos- 
phere and the earth. A board or a blanket 
laid on the earth has the same effect, and the 
soil is moist beneath it. This soil -mulch should 
be renewed, or repaired, in the growing season, 
as often as it becomes hard or baked, by means 
of shallow tillage. 

SUGGESTIONS ON CHAPTER III 

62g. To show that growing plants are constantly giving off 
large quantities of water through their foliage, grow corn, beans 
or squashes in rich soil in a flower-pot. Over the soil in the pot 
should be placed a rubber or oiled cloth covering, so that no 
moisture can come from this source. Then over the plant place 
a glass bell-jar or a common fruit-jar, and notice how rapidly 
the moisture collects on the interior of the jar (Fig. 10). This 
experiment may be conducted even better in the field. 



58 



THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 



63a. Irrigation is of primary value, of course, in all arid coun- 
tries; but as complete systems of land culture develop, it must be 
employed also in countries of free rainfall in order to tide over 
periods of drought and to enable the husbandman to control his con- 
ditions. Irrigation will come more and more to be a truly national 
problem. 

66a. Capillary action, or capillarity, is due to the attraction 
of matter for mattei. Capillary attraction is that force which 





Fig. 10. How to show that plants give 
off moisture. 



Fig. 11. To deteriiiiiie how much 
water a soil can hold. 



causes a liquid to ascend or descend or move laterally through 
very small openings or tubes, or the interstices between fine par- 
ticles of solid matter, or by which it is held to the surface of the 
particles themselves. The teacher should illustrate capillarity by 
the familiar experiment of standing tubes of glass in water. The 
smaller the bore of the tul>e, the higher the water rises. The oil 
rises in the wick by means of capillarity. The principle may be 



THE MOIST UKK IN THK SC)li> 51) 

illustrated by filling straight (or argand) lamp chimneys with 
oompacted dry soil and standing them in a dish of water. 

68a. Film moisture can be illustrated by dipping a marble 
into water and observing the skin or film of moisture adhering to 
all sides. The most satisfactory conditions of soil moisture exist 
when each soil grain is covered by a film of water. The char- 
acter of film moisture is changed by the thickness of the film. 
The thicker the film, the less the tension to the body, until 
it becomes so thick as to separate from that body and become a 
drop of water ; and it is then subject to the law of gravitation, 
and can travel but in one direction — downward. While in a state 
of film moisture, it is amenable to the law of capillary attraction, 
and can move in any direction, which means that it goes towards 
the thinnest films. The readiness with which water films travel 
can be seen by dipping a piece of cube sugar into cofl'ee and 
observing how quickly the liquid pervades the lump of sugar. 
That soil moisture may move with the same facility as the 
coffee does in the sugar, it is necessary to have the soil grains 
ill proper touch one with another ; — not so far apart but that 
the water films can reach one to the other, not so close as to 
impede the progress of the films. The two extremes in soil can 
be seen in loose gravel and hard clay. 

70rt. By rainfall is meant precipitation, — the fall of water in 
any form, as in rain, snow and hail. 

72a. That different soils vary in their capacity to hold 
moisture may be illustrated by the following experiment : Pro- 
vide several flower-pots of the same size and shape. The va- 
rious soils should be thoroughly dried in an oven. At least 
four kinds of soil should be tested: gravel, sand, clay, and gar- 
den loam. Place an equal weight of each soil in the pots. 
Suspend one of the pots from a common spring-scales (Fig. 11). 
Notice the number of pounds and ounces registered. Now 
slowly pour water upon the soil until it is thoroughly saturated. 
Cover with a piece of oiled cloth or oiled paper, and allow it 
to drain until no more water will flow from it. The water 
which drains from the pot is the free water. The difference in 
weight of the pot of soil before soaking, and after the drainage, 
shows the amount of water held by capillarity. 



60 



THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 



74a. The plowing uuder of green -crops sometimes gives 
unsatisfactory results. If a heavy growth is plowed under when 
the soil does not contain sufficient moisture to cause ready 

decomposition, this layer of foreign 

matter prevents the passage of 
the water from the subsoil to the 
surface soil (Fig. 12). The crop 
which is then planted must nec- 
essarily feed for some time in the 
b surface soil, and in case of pro- 
longed drought a partial or com- 
plete failure of the crop may re- 
sult. Heavy growths of cover- 
erops, as well as coarse, strawy 
manures, should be plowed under 
when there is sufficient moisture 
ill the soil to cause decomposition. 
In case it is necessary to plow 
them under when the soil is dry, 
a heavj' roller will so compact the 
in part restored and decomposition 




Fig. 12. The layer (ab)oi uude- 
eomposed herbage. 



soil that capillarity will be 
hastened. 

75a. While surface drains are to be avoided, yet it frequently 
becomes necessary to provide a conduit or open ditch into which 
tile drains may open, or to remove flood water. It is a common 
error to haye the banks too vertical. Through the action of frost or 
the tramping of stock, the banks are constantly requiring atten- 
tion. The ditch should be wide, and the banks should have a 
gradual slope, as illustrated in Fig. 13. Grass-seed should be 
sown over the sides and bottom, so that the sod will prevent 
washing. One can drive across such a ditch. When possible, 
this ditch would be made the boundaiy of a field, or be placed 
near a fence. 

76a. The depth at which tile drains should be placed must be 
determined by the nature of the soil. In very compact and 
impervious soils, as clay, the drains must be closer together and 
nearer the surface than in porous soils. Land may become so 



THE MOISTURE IN THE SOIL 



61 



hard upon the surface that the water of rainfall never can pass 
down. By placing the drains shallow, the soil is rendered mellow 
and porous, water passes down readily, the level of free Tvater is 
raised, and the surplus is removed. 

766. The distance apart at which drains should be placed is 
variable, but 30 feet is usually considered most advisable. The 




Fig. 13. Properly made open ditch. 



level of the free water tends to rise higher at a point midway 
between drains, as shown in Fig. 8. If the drains are too far 
apart, this tendency may be greater than the tendency to move 
toward the drain. In soils through which the water moves some- 
what readily, the drains may be farther removed than in close, 
impervious soils. 

78a. In the spring, on undrained soils, free water remains 
for a considerable time near the surface ; consequently the plant 




Fig. 14. Sides too steep. 

roots cannot penetrate deeply into the soil. When the drought 
comes the surface is first affected, and the plants suffer at once. 
It is a well-known fact that tap -rooted plants are admirably 
fitted to withstand dry weather. Their feeders are deep in the 
soil. It is this condition which is obtained to a certain extent by 
under -drainage. The soil above the drain is made porous, the 
water which cannot be held by capillarity is quickly removed, the 
air penetrates, the soil becomes warm and congenial. Thus 




J-'ig. I"i. Showing the coiiditiou which 
prevails in spring on cold, nndrained 
soils, — when the water-table is too 
high. 




Pig. 16. Wlien the drought comes, 
the 1)1 ant is still shallow-rooted, 
and it suffers. 




Fig. 17. On well-drained soils, the 
roots strike downwards. 




F\k 18. When the drought comes, 
the plant does not suffer. 



THE MOISTURE IX THE SOIL 63 

plants are enabled early in their growth to send their roots down, 
and when drought comes they are not seriously injured. Figs. 
15-18 illustrate this. 

79a. The soil reservoir may be understood by likening it to 
a pan. A two-inch rainfall fills an inch-deep pan and runs it 
over ; but if the depth is increased to two inches, none of the 
rain escapes. The hard-pan or water-table is the bottom of the 
soil reservoir. If this bottom is within a few inches of the sur- 
face, the ordinary rainfalls fill the soil so full that it is muddy, 
and some of the water may be lost by surface washing. Deep 
plowing lowers the bottom of the reservoir, and the soil holds 
more water and yet remains drier. 

81a. Tillage operations should vary according to the nature 
of the soil. Those soils which are loose and porous should be 
compacted after plowing, so that the capillary connection may 
be restored between the surface and the subsoil. The roller 
may be used. With finely divided soils, which have a tendency 
to become too compact, only so much tillage should be given as 
is necessary to produce the proper degree of pulverization. It is 
possible to so compact and fine some soils, as clays, that the 
spaces between the soil particles is filled, and a condition is 
produced which prevents the rise of moisture by capillarity, and 
also prevents the absorption of rainfall and the passage of air. 

816. Of general farm crops, about three hundred pounds of 
water is used in the production of one pound of dry matter. An 
inch of rainfall weighs, approximately, one hundred and thirteen 
and one-half tons to the acre. The s-tudent will discover that 
the rainfall of the growing months may not be sufficient to supply 
the crop ; hence the necessity of saving the rainfall of winter 
and spring. 

83a. On the general subject of soil moisture and its conser- 
vation, read Chaps, v. and vi. in King's "Soil," and Chap. iv. in 
Roberts' "Fertility of the Land." Also consult publications cf 
the Experiment Stations and U. S. Department of Agriculture; 
and part 3 in Vol. I of Cyclopedia of American Agriculture ; also 
the recent soil books of Hilgard, and of Lyon and Fippin. 



Chapter IV 

THE TILLAGE OF THE SOIL 

1. What Tillage Is 

84. We have found (52, 79) that tillage is 
one of the means of improving the physical con- 
dition of the soil. By tillage is meant the stir- 
ring of the soil for the purpose of facilitating 
the growth of plants. 

85. We may divide tillage into two general 
kinds, — tillage which covers the entire ground, 
and tillage which covers only that part of the 
ground which lies between the plants. The 
former we may call open or general tillage, and 
the latter inter- tillage. We practice open tillage 
before the seed is sown : it therefore prepares 
the land for the crop. We practice inter- tillage 
in fruit plantations and between the rows of 
crops : it therefore maintains the condition of 
the soil. 

86. We may also speak of tillage as deep or 
shallow. In a general way, tillage is deep when 
it extends more than six inches into the ground. 
We also speak of surface tillage, when the 

(64) 



THE TILLAGE OF THE SOIL 65 

stirring is confined to the one, two or three 
uppermost inches of the soil. 

2. What Tillage Does 

87. Tillage improves the physical condition of 
the soil : by fining the soil and extending the 
feeding area for roots (53) ; by increasing the 
depth of the soil, or loosening it, so that plants 
obtain a deeper root -hold ; by causing the soil 
to dry out and warm up in spring ; by mak- 
ing the conditions of moisture and temperature 
more uniform throughout the growing season. 

88. It aids in the saving of moisture : by 
increasing the water- holding capacity of the soil, 
or deepening the reservoir (79) ; by checking the 
evaporation (or conserving, or saving, moisture) 
by means of the surface-mulch (83). The for- 
mer is the result of deep tillage, as deep plow- 
ing, and the latter of surface tillage. 

89. It hastens and augments chemical action 
in the soil : by aiding to set free plant-food ; by 
promoting nitrification (Chap, vi.) ; by admitting 
air to the soil ; by lessening extremes of tempera- 
ture ; by hastening the decomposition of organic 
matter, as of green- crops or stable manures 
which are plowed under ; by extending all these 
benefits to greater depths in the soil. In a very 
important sense, tillage is manure. 



66 THE I'KINCIPLES OF AGRICULTUBE 

3. How Tillage Is Performed 

3a. By deep -working tools 

90. Plowing. We plow {a) to get the land 
in fit condition for planting, (b) to pulverize the 
soil, (c) to turn under manures, green-crops, 
and trash, [d) to deepen the soil, and thereby 
increase its storage capacity for water and ex- 
tend the root pasturage, (e) to break up or to 
form a hard-pan, (/) to warm and dry the land, 
{g) to allow the weather to act on the soiL 
Passing over the first subject {a), we may ex- 
plain the remaining objects of plowing. 

91. {h) Plowing is the most efficient means 
of pulverizing the soil. That is, it is not enough 
that the soil be inverted : it must be ground 
and broken. For j)urposes of pulverization, 
the shape of the plow should be such . as to 
twist the furrow- slice, causing it to break and 
crumble as it falls. The moldboard, therefore, 
should have a sharp, bold outward curve at its 
upper extremity ; and the furrow-slice should be 
left in an inclined, or even nearly perpendicular 
position, rather than turned over flat. 

92. (c) Since it is important that organic 
matter, as manures, shall quickly decay when 
turned under, the plowing should be done when 
the season is moist, as in early spring or in fall. 



THE TILLAGE OF THE SOIL 67 

(ylover and rye are also apt to become too hard 
and dry if allowed to grow to maturity. Herb- 
age which does not decay quickly when plowed 
down may seriously injure the crop for that 
season (74a). For the covering of herbage, the 
furrow should be broad and deep ; and if the 
land is to be surface -tilled shortly after the 
plowing, care should be taken that the furrow- 
slice turns down rather flat, so as to completely 
cover the plants. 

93. {(l) The deeper the plowing, the greater 
the water- storage reservoir will be, other things 
being equal; but the plowing may be so very 
deep as to bring the unproductive subsoil to th«> 
surface, in which case the increase of storage 
capacity may be overbalanced by the loss of 
available fertility. On most soils and for most 
crops, eight or nine inches is a sufficient depth 
for the plow. Shallow soils are both too dry and 
too wet. They are too dry, because much of the 
rainfall is lost in surface drainage or by very 
rapid evaporation. They are too wet after every 
hard rain, because the water is held near the 
surface {79a). 

94. (e) If a hard-pan is near the surface, 
deep plowing will break it up, although the 
most permanent remedy may be under-drainage. 
In very porous soils, however, it may be neces- 
sary to form a hard-pan in order to prevent 



68 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

leaching. This is done by plowing at the same 
depth each year, so that the land becomes com- 
pacted under the furrow. Loose and sandy lands 
may need shallow plowing rather than deep 
plowing. 

95. (/) Land which is turned up loose soon 
dries out, because so much surface is exposed to 
the air. In spring, it is often necessary to make 
lands warm and dry, especially if such crops as 
corn and potatoes and cotton are to be planted; 
and this is done by very early plowing. The 
slices should not be turned down flat, but 
allowed to lie up loose and broken, and the 
harrow should not be used until the soil begins 
to be dry and crumbly. Care should be taken 
not to plow clay lands when wet, however, else 
they become lumpy and unmanageable. 

96. {g) Freezing and thawing often pulverize 
and improve heavy lands, particularly clays. 
Fall plowing, therefore, may be advisable on 
lands which tend to remain lumpy. The results 
are best when the furrow- slices are left in a per- 
pendicular position (as in Fig. 21), and when 
the harrow is not used until the following spring. 
Heavy clays tend to puddle (81) or to cement 
together if fall plowed, but the danger is least 
when there is herbage (as heavy sod or stubble) 
or manure on the land before it is plowed. 

97. Subsoiling. When it is desired to loosen 



THE TILLAGE OF THE SOIL 69 

or pulverize the land to a great depth, the sub- 
soil plow is run in the furrow behind the ordi- 
nary plow. Subsoiling provides a deeper bed 
for roots, breaks up the hard-pan, and dries the 
soil. More permanent results are usually ob- 
tained by thorough under-drainage. 

3&. By surfdce-working tools 

98. Tillage by means of surface-working 
tools — as hoes, rakes, cultivators, harrows, clod- 
crushers — has the following objects : (a) to 
make a bed in which seeds can be sown or plants 
set, (b) to cover the seeds, (c) to pulverize the 
ground, (d) to establish and maintain an earth- 
mulch, (e) to destroy weeds. Aside from these 
specific benefits, surface tillage contributes to 
the general betterment of soil conditions, as 
outlined in 87, 88, 89. 

99. In making the earth -mulch (the im- 
f)ortance of which as a saver of moisture is 
fully explained in 82, 83), the other objects of 
surface tillage are also secured ; therefore we 
may confine our attention to the earth-mulch for 
the present. The mulch is made by shallow 
tillage — about three inches deep, in field condi- 
tions — before the seeds are sown. The first til- 
lage after plowing is usually with a heavy and 
coarse tool, — as a clod-crusher, cutaway harrow, 



70 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

or spring- tooth harrow, — and its object is pulver- 
ization of the ground. The finishing is done 
with a small-toothed ' and lighter harrow ; and 
this finishing provides tht .^eed-bed and the soil- 
mulch. 

100. The earth-nmlch is destroyed by rains : 
the ground becomes baked. But even in dry 
times it becomes compact, and capillarity is 
restored between the under-soil and the air. 
Therefore, the mulch must be maintained or re- 
paired. That is, the harrow or cultivator must 
be used as often as the ground becomes hard, 
particularly after every rain. In dry times, this 
surface tillage should usually be repeated every 
ten days, — oftener or less often as the judgment 
of the farmer may dictate. The drier the time 
and the country, the greater the necessity for 
maintaining the soil-mulch ; but the mulch is of 
comparatively little elfect in a dry time if the 
soil moisture was allowed to evaporate earlier 
in the season. 

101. Surface tillage is usually looked upon 
only as a means of killing weeds, but we now see 
that we should till for tillage's sake, — to make 
the land more productive. If tillage is frequent 
and thorough — if the soil -mulch is maintained — 
weeds cannot obtain a start ; and this is the 
ideal and profitable condition, to which, however, 
there may be exceptions. 



THE TILLAGE OF THE SOn> 71 

3c. By compacting tools 

102. The compacting tools are rollers, and 
the implements known as plankers or floats. 
The objects of rolling are : (a) to crush clods, 
(&) to smootlien the ground for the seed-bed, 
(c) to hasten germination of seeds, (d) to com- 
pact and solidify soils which are otherwise too 
loose and open, (e) to put the land in such 
condition that other tools can act efficiently, 
(/') to facilitate the marking -out of land. 

103. By compacting the surface soil, the 
roller re-establishes the capillary connection be- 
tween the under- soil and the air : that is, it 
destroys the earth -mulch. In its passage up- 
wards, the soil moisture supplies the seeds with 
water ; and the particles of the soil are in 
intimate contact with the seeds, and, therefore, 
with the soil moisture. If the surface of rolled 
lands is moister than loose -tilled lands, there- 
fore, it is because the moisture is passing off into 
the air and is being lost. 

104. The rolling of lands, then, sacrifices 
soil moisture. The rolled or compacted surface 
should not be allowed to remain, but the earth- 
mulch should be quickly restored, to prevent 
evaporation, particularly in dry weather. When 
the object of rolling is to hasten germination, 
however, the surface cannot be tilled at once ; 



72 THE PRINCIPLES OP AGRICULTURE 

but if the seed is in rows or hills, as maize or 
garden vegetables, tillage should begin as soon 
as the plants have appeared. 

SUGGESTIONS ON CHAPTER IV 

84a. Tillage is a specific or special word, and is much better 
than the more general word culture, when one is speaking of the 
stirring of the soil. The culture of a crop properly comprises 
tillage, pruning, fertilizing, and other good care. 

85a. For the origin of the word inter-tillage, see foot-note in 
Koberts' "Fertility of the Land," p. 69. 

88a. It should be observed that surface tillage saves moisture 
by preventing evaporation, not, as commonly supposed, by caus- 
ing the soil to absorb moisture from the atmosphere. When 
moisture is most needed, is the season in which the air is dryer 
than the soil. 

89a. To illustrate the importance of air, select a thrifty 
plant, other than aquatic plant, growing in a florist's pot, and 
exclude all the air by keeping the soil saturated with water, or 
even by keeping the bottom of the plant standing deep in water, 
and note the checking of growth, and, in time, the decline of the 
plant. The remarks on draining (65, 78) show how undrained 
soils are often saturated with water ; and no matter how much 
raw material for plant-food may exist in such a soil, it is un- 
available to the plant. The reader can now guess why crops are 
poor and yellow on flat lands in wet seasons. On the importance 
of air in soils, read Chapter ix. of King's "Soil." 

895. On the effects and necessity of tillage, read Chapter iii. 
in Roberts' "Fertility of the Land," and Chajjter xii. in King's 
"Soil." A most interesting diversion in this connection is a 
perusal of Jethro Tull's famous book on "Horse-Hoeing Hus- 
bandry" (53c). Copies of Cobbett's edition may frequently be 
found in antiquarian book stores. 

91a. The trench left by the plow is a furrow. The earth 




v-.-^ 








74 



THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 



which is turned out of the furrow is a furrow-slice. In common 
speech, however, the word furrow is often used for the furrow- 
slice. 

916. The accompanying pictures, adapted from Roberts' 
''Fertility of the Land," illustrate different types of plow-work. 
Fig. 19 shows the furrow-slice completely inverted. This kind of 
plowing looks well, but it is not desirable unless the object is to 
bury weeds or a green -crop. The furrow- slices are not broken 




Fig. 23. A subsoil plow. 



Fig. 24. A smoothing harrow. 



and pulverized, and they are in such position that the harrow 
cannot tear them to pieces. Fig. 20 represents work which is 
better, for most conditions, although the slices are not pulverized. 
Pig. 21 shows ideal plowing. 

91c. The ideal plow for general farm work, in Roberts' 
opinion, is shown in Fig. 22. Observe the "quick" or sharp 
curve of the moldboard. For an excellent sketch of the develop- 
ment of the plow, consult Chapter ii. of Roberts' "Fertility of 
the Land." 

93a. About 12 to 20 per cent of moisture in the soil is the 
ideal condition for most plants. Let the pupil figure out what the 
percentage will be after a rainfall of one inch on soils that are 
four inches deep and eight inches deep. Consult Roberts, "Fer- 
tility of the Land," pp. 77 to 79. 

94a. By hard-pan is meant very hard and more or less 
iii;]iorvious subsoil. Some subsoils are loose ; others are so hard 
as to prevent the downward movement of water and roots (79a). 




Fig. 25. The loose mulch 
on forest soils. 




Fig. 26. The soil-mulch 
on tilled lands. 




A home-made plauker. 




Pig. 28. Showing the effect 
of the roller in compacting 
the surface layer. 




Fig. 29. Showing how the 
soU-miileh should be re- 
stored by tillage after the 
roller has been nsed. 



76 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

97a. The subsoil plow does not turn a furrow (Fig. 23). It 
is drawn by an extra team, which follows the ordinary plowing. 

99a. A useful tool for making and maintaining the soil-mulch 
is the smoothing harrow shown in Fig. 24. On hard lands, 
however, heavier and more vigorous tools must be used. 

99b. Observe how moist the soil is in forests, even in dry 
times. This condition is due partly to the forest shade, but 
perhaps chiefly to the mulch of leaves on the ground (Fig. 25). 

101a. Some farmers are always asking how to kill weeds, as 
if this were the chief end of farming. But good farmers seldom 
worry about weeds, because that management of the farm which 
makes land the most productive is also the one which prevents 
weeds from gaining a foothold. But there are some cases, as 
we shall find in tlie next chapter, in which weeds may be 
allowed to grow with profit. 

102a. A planker or float is shown in Fig. 27. This is a 
home-made device. In some parts of the country it is called a 
slicker ; and in the West it is known as a drag. In the East, the 
word drag is synonymous with harrow. 

104a. To determine when and how much to roll land, is one 
of the most difficult of agricultural operations. This is because 
the good effects are so often followed by the ill effects of loss 
of moisture and of puddling of hard lands when heavy rains 
follow. Whenever the object of rolling is to compact loose 
lands or merely to crush the clods, the work should be quickly 
followed by the harrow or cultivator. Compare Figs. 28 and 29. 



Chaptek V 

ENRICHING THE SOIL— FARM RESOURCES 

1. What Farm Resources Are 

105. The real fertility of the land is its 
power to produce crops. It is sometimes said 
to be the richness of the soil in elements of 
plant- food ; but soils with much plant -food 
may still be unproductive. Fertility is pro- 
ductive power. It is the result of good physi- 
cal condition and an abundance of available 
plant -food. 

106. We have found (in Chapters ii., iii. 
and iv.) that the first step towards increasing 
the productiveness of soil is to improve its 
physical texture. This improvement is accom- 
plished both by mechanical means,— as tillage 
and drainage,— and by the addition of humus. 
The humus results from the application or incor- 
poration of organic matter. 

107. We have seen (34) that humus is 
supplied, in practice, by cropping, — that is, by 
vegetable matter left on the ground after the 
crop is removed, or by crops plowed under 

(77) 



78 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

and by stable manures and other direct appli- 
cations. 

2. Cropping Resources 

2a. The kinds of green -manures 

108. The stubbles of grain, clover, grass and 
sowed corn add considerable humus to the 
soil, and there is also much vegetable fiber 
left in the ground in the roots ; and the refuse 
left from potatoes and garden crops is often 
important. Sometimes the stubble and roots 
are nearly as valuable for ameliorating the 
soil as the part which is removed from the 
land. This is especially true in clover, par- 
ticularly if it is not cut close to the ground. 
Roberts reports that a second -growth of clover, 
two years from seeding, gave 5,417 pounds per 
acre of top and 2,368 pounds of roots in the 
upper eight inches of soil ; and the roots usu- 
ally extend to three or four times that depth. 

109. Humus is often secured by growing 
crops for that particular purpose ; that is, Ijy 
the practice of green -manuring. Green -manure 
crops are of three categories : (a) regular or 
full- season crops, which occupy the land for 
one or more seasons before they are plowed 
under, or until they have reached nearly or 
quite their full gi'owth ; (/>) catch- crops, which 
are grown in the seasons between other crops; 



ENRICHING THE SOIL — FAKM RESOURCES 79 

(c) cover-crops, which are sown late in the 
season for the purpose of protecting the soil 
during winter as well as for green -manuring. 

110. Green -manuring crops may be again 
divided into those which gather nitrogen and 
those which do not, — or those which have the 
power of using the nitrogen (see Chapter vi.) 
of the air, and those which obtain all their 
nitrogen directly from the soil. The nitrogen - 
gatherers leave their nitrogen in the soil, when 
they decay, for the use of other plants. The 
nitrogen -gatherers are the leguminous plants, 
or those which belong to the pea family, as 
all kinds of peas and beans, clovers, alfalfa, 
vetch. The other class, or nitrogen -consumers, 
comprises all other plants used for green -ma- 
nuring, as rye, oats, rape, mustard, buckwheat, 
maize. 

111. In general, the best green- manure crops 
are the legumes, — red clover for the North, 
alfalfa for dry regions, cow -peas and Japan 
clover for the South. With the exception of 
the cow-peas, these crops require one or more 
seasons for full development, and, therefore, 
cannot be used in intensive farming. 

2b. The management of green -manures 

112. The ideal green -manuring is that which 
is a part of a regular rotation, — the green- 



80 THE PKINOIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

manure crop, or the stubble or sod, occurring 
regularly once every few years, in alternation 
with wheat, potatoes and other staple crops. 
This, however, is possible only with general or 
mixed husbandry (4a). In market- gardening, 
and other intensive farming, catch- crops are 
often used. In fruit-growing, cover- crops are 
frequently used. 

113. But even in intensive farming, the land 
sometimes becomes unproductive from too con- 
tinuous cropping with one thing, and the too 
persistent use of one kind of fertilizer. It is 
then often "rested" by seeding it to clover; but 
the good effects are not the result of a rest, but 
of rotation or change of crop. 

114. It is necessary to distinguish between 
the effects of green -crops in improving soil 
texture and their effects in enriching the soil ; 
for soils which may need improving in texture 
may not need enriching. In fruit-growing this 
is often true ; and the heavy addition of nitro- 
gen (which conduces to growth of wood) may 
cause the plants to grow too heavily and to 
bear little, and to be too susceptible to dis- 
ease and to cold. In such cases, the nitrogen- 
consumers are the better crops. One must be 
careful not to induce an over -growth in grapes, 
peaches, apricots, and pears. 

115. On hard and poor lands, it is often 



ENEICHING THE SOIL — FAKM RESOURCES 81 

diflficult to secure a "catch" of clover. In such 
cases, it is well to begin with fall -sown rye or 
field peas. When the soil has become mellow, 
clover may be successful. 

116. Cover- crops are used mostly in fruit 
plantations. They are sown in midsummer, or 
later, after tillage is completed,— foi- tillage should 
cease early, in order that the fruit plants will 
not grow too heavily and too late. The cover 
is plowed under early the following spring 
(74a). The cover checks the growth of the 
fruit plants, prevents the land from washing 
and puddling, holds the rainfall until it can 
soak into the soil, causes the soil to dry out 
early in spring, lessens injury from frost. 

117. Weeds often make good cover-crops. 
The chief difficulty is that they cannot be 
relied upon to appear when and where and in 
the quantity wanted, and some kinds may be 
difficult to eradicate (lOlff). 



3. Direct Applications 

3a. Stable manures 

118. The best dii^ect application which the 
farmer can make to his land, from his home 
resources, is stable manure. It supplies both 
humus and plant -food. 



82 THE PRINCIPLES OP AGRICULTURE 

119. The value of manure depends upon 

(a) the kind of animal from which it is made, 

(b) the feed which the animal receives, (c) 
the amount of bedding or litter which it con- 
tains, (d) the way in which it is kept or 
housed. 

120. Some of the most valuable constituents 
of manure are soluble, and are, therefore, 
removed by water. Consequently, manures 
should be housed to protect them from rain. 
A covered barn -yard is the ideal place in 
which to keep manures, for they are not only 
protected from weather, but, if the manure 
contains enough straw or litter, it makes an 
agreeable bed upon which stock may tramp, 
and it absorbs the liquids ; and if it is spread 
in the yard as it is made and well tramped by 
stock, its tendency to heat is reduced. In six 
months' exposure to weather, manures usually 
lose more than half of their available plant -food. 

121. The more completely rotted the ma- 
nure, the sooner does it become thoroughly 
incorporated with the soil ; and the decay of 
the coarse parts renders their plant -food more 
available. If the rotting proceeds under cover 
or in a compost pile (34a, Fig. 5), there should 
be little loss of plant- food by leaching. 

122. If manure cannot be sheltered, it 
should be spread on the fields as fast as 



ENRICHING THE SOIL — FARM RESOURCES 83 

made. There is practically no loss of plant- 
food from evaporation, and the part which 
leaches is caught by the soil. Loose or strawy 
manure which lies too long on the ground, 
however, may become so dry that it does not 
quickly decay when plowed under ; if applied 
very thick, it prevents heavy soils from drying 
out, and thereby delays spring work. 

36. Other dressings 

123. Muck is often useful as a source of 
humus, but it generally contains little directly 
available plant- food. It is generally improved 
if dug and allowed to weather some time be- 
fore it is put on the land. Dry muck is very 
useful in stables and covered barn -yards to 
absorb the liquids ; and its value as a dress- 
ing for the land is thereby increased. 

124. Peat, when decomposed and soil -like, 
becomes muck. Peat, therefore, is less valuable 
than muck as a dressing until it has been 
thoroughly broken up and decomposed by 
weathering or composting. 

125. Marl is usually not rich in available 
plant -food, but, like muck, it may be valuable 
to improve the physical condition of the soil. 
But only in exceptional cases is it worth haul- 
ing great distances. 

126. Such materials as sawdust, straw, 



84 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

leaves, pomace, are generally more valuable 
for the improving of the texture of the soil 
than for the direct addition of plant -food. If 
the soil is loose, dry and leachy, or if it is 
very hard, compact and retentive, these ma- 
terials may benefit it. To determine the value 
of such materials in plant-food, one must con- 
sult tables of their composition in books ; and 
the more thoroughly they are rotted, the more 
available are their constituents. 



SUGGESTIOXS ON CHAPTER V 

108«. "The pi'oportiou of roots to tops [iu clovers] varies 
widely. The medium red clover, one year from seeding, gives 
•A much larger proportion of roots to tops than clover two years 
from seeding. Red clover which produces two tons per acre 
may be expected to furnish potentially to the soil, after the 
first cutting, in roots and stubble, 40 to 60 i)ounds of nitrogen, 
20 to 25 pounds of phosphoric acid, and 30 to 50 pounds of 
potash. Thirty bushels of wheat * * * and 2,700 pounds 
of straw, would remove approximately 46 pounds of nitrogen, 
'JO pounds of phosphoric ucid, and 26 pounds of potash." — 
Uoherts, ''Fertility of the Land,'' S45. 

109«. Accessible discussions of green- manuring are to be 
found in Chap, xiv., '' Fertility of the Land;" pp. 117-123, Voor- 
hees' "Fertilizers." Cover-crops in relation to fruit-culture are 
discussed in pp. 184-202 of Bailey's "Principles of Fruit-Grow- 
ing," and in other books and recent bulletins. 

Ilia. Intensive farming is "high -culture" farming. It is 
farming on a comparatively small scale, when the land is kept 
constantly in productive crop, with the best of tillage, and the 
free use of manures and fertilizers. The land is forced to its 




Fig. ',iO. A covered liarn-yard, in which ni.'imire is saved ami tlif stfick 
protected. 




Fig. :il. A common type of barn-yard. The stains on the barn sliow where the 
manure was baptized from the eaves ; and the mnd-piiddle shows where 
much of the fertility has gone. 



86 



THE PRINCIPLES OF AGKICULTURE 



utmost capacity. Market -gardening and forcing-house culture 
are examples. 

111ft. Extensive farming is general husbandry, especially 
when done on a large scale and without forceful methods of 
tillage and cropping. Grain -farming and stock-raising are ex- 
amples. 

120a. A covered barn-yard is shown in Fig, 30. This is a 
basement under the farm barn at Cornell University. This 
affords a protected place in which the stock may exercise in 
cold weather ; and if the cattle are dehorned, they remain to- 




Fig. 32. A haiuly and economical stable, with cattle-racks, a manure trough 
(behind which is a walk), and a small shed at the rear, with a hollowed 
cement bottom, for the storage of the manure. 

gether peaceably. Such an area not only saves the manure, but 
it adds to the welfare and value of the stock. Compare this 
with the commoner type of yard, as shown in Fig, 31. A 
handy and efficient arrangement for the saving of manure is 
shown in Fig. 32. For general discussions on farm manures 
and methods of saving and handling them, consult Roberts, 
"Fertility of the Land," Chapters vi., vii., viii., ix. 

126a. Muck, marl, and other materials of this class are 
considered in Voorhees' "Fertilizers," Chapter vi., and in Roberts' 
"Fertility, Chapter xiii. ;" and the appendix to the latter work has 
full tables of the fertilizer constituents of very many substances. 



Chaptek VI 

ENRICHING THE SOIL— COMMERCIAL 
RESOURCES 

0. W. OAVANAVQR 

1. The Elements in the ISoil 

127. Chemically, a fertile soil is one con- 
taining an abundance of available plant -food. 
The substances which are necessary for the 
growth and welfare of plants are called plant- 
foods. There are about ten essential elements 
of plant -food. Six of these are derived from 
the mineral part of the soil, — phosphorus 
sulfur, iron, calcium, magnesium and potas- 
sium. Nitrogen is contained in the humus. 
Water supplies the hydrogen and oxygen 
to the roots. Carbon comes from the air. For- 
tunately, the greater part of the plant- food ele- 
ments of the soil always exist in quantities more 
than sufficient to supply any possible need of 
the plants. 

128. Three of these elements are often de- 
ficient in the soil ; or, if present, they may not 

(87) 



88 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

be ill condition to be used by tlie plant. These 
are nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. A 
fourth plant- food is also sometimes deficient, — 
calcium. These four substances, therefore, are 
the ones which the farmer needs to consider 
when fertilizing the land. 

129. Before the plant can use any of these 
elements of plant- food in the soil, they must 
become dissolved in the soil water, which is 
absorbed by roots. 

130. While all plants need certain elements 
for their growth, they cannot use the elements 
in their elemental or uncombined forms. In 
fact, the elements as such do not exist in the 
soil. They are united with each other in com- 
pounds, and it is by absorbing the compounds 
that the plants obtain the necessary elements. 
Phosphorus is essential to the life of plants, 
but it is never used by them in the form of 
elemental phosphorus. It is always in some 
compound, as phosphoric acid or a phosphate. 

131. When the compounds exist in such 
condition as to be readily absorbed by the 
roots, the soil is said to contain available 
plant-food. Often there is sufficient plant-food 
present, but not in condition to be taken up 
<)y the plants. It is then said to be unavail- 
able, or to be locked ii]). Availability is deter- 
mined by two factors : Ijy the substance being 



ENRICHING SOIL— COMMERCIAL RESOURCES 89 

soluble in soil water; by its being of such com- 
position that the plant will lase it. 

132. One problem for the agriculturist is to 
secure available plant-food, and to determine 

vhether it is better to unlock the plant- food 
in the soil by means of tillage, or to supply 
the elements in some manure or fertilizer. 

133. Barn manures are not always to be had, 
and they are variable in composition. It is often 
advisable, therefore, to substitute commercial or 
concentrated fertilizers, in which the constituents 
are of known amounts and often readily avail- 
able. Barn manures are bulky. Even manure 
of cattle from a covered yard contains a>^ 
high as 70 or 75 per cent of water, and usu- 
ally less than 1 per cent of nitrogen, phos- 
phoric acid or potash. If it were not for its 
influence in improving the physical effects of the 
soil, stable manure would have comparatively 
little value. 

2. Nitrogen 

134. Nitrogen is the most important element 
which the farmer adds to his soil. It comprises 
part of all green and woody parts of plants. 
It seems to be the element most intimately 
associated with rapid growth in plants. Plants 
that feed excessively on nitrogen tend to pro- 



90 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

duce large leaves and stalks, while the hardi- 
ness may suffer. On the other hand, insuf- 
ficient nitrogen is almost certain to result in 
dwarfing and loss of vitality. It must receive 
attention, also, because one form, the nitrate, 
tends to leach from the soil. 

135. In a pure or elemental state, nitrogen 
is an invisible gas. It comprises four- fifths 
of the atmosphere. And yet, with this vast 
amount about us, it is the most expensive ele- 
ment of plant -food. The nitrogen of the air 
can not be used by the great majority of plants, 
because it is in what is known as a free or un- 
combined state. The sources of nitrogen for 
plants are ammonia, nitrates, or in some 
compound formed by animals or plants (that 
is, in some organic form). 

136. If the gas nitrogen be combined with 
the gas hydrogen, there will be formed am- 
monia (N H3) . From this the plants can 
derive, indirectly, their supply of nitrogen. 
Another compound of nitrogen is called nitric 
acid, which is composed of nitrogen, hydrogen, 
and oxygen (H N O3) . When some mineral 
element takes the place of the hydrogen in 
this combination, the compound is called a 
nitrate : as Na N O3, nitrate of soda ; K N O3, 
nitrate of potash, or saltpetre. Both ammonia 
and nitrates are found in the soil in small 



ENRICHING SOIL — COMMERCIAL RESOURCES 91 

quantities, but only in a fertile soil in sufficient 
amounts to supply the plant with nitrogen. 

137. Humus is the great storehouse of 
nitrogen. Humus does not dissolve in water, 
and so serves as a means of retaining the 
nitrogen against leaching. But if the nitrogen 
remained always in the humus, it would not 
be available to plants, since to be absorbed it 
must dissolve in the soil -water. Fortunately 
there is a process whereby the nitrogen in the 
insoluble humus is made to be available. This 
process is the work of germs or micro-organ- 
isms (35, 35a). These germs are of several 
kinds. One kind works upon the humus and 
changes its nitrogen into ammonia, and other 
kinds change the ammonia into nitric acid. 
This process of changing nitrogen into the 
form of nitric acid or nitrate is called nitri- 
fication. It is probable that nitrogen enters 
the plant chiefly in form of nitrate, so that 
all other forms of nitrogen must undergo nitri- 
fication, or be nitrified, before they are of use. 
Since tillage promotes the activities of the micro- 
organisms (35, 52, 89), it thereby increases the 
supply of available nitrogen. 

138. It has been stated (135) that the great 
quantity of nitrogen in the atmosphere is not 
available to most plants, because it is not in 
a combined state. There are certain plants, 



92 THK I'KINCIPLES OF AUKKHTLT URE 

however, which have the power of drawing 
upon this supply for their nitrogen. They are 
the leguminous plants, and include the clovers, 
peas and beans (110). These plants have knobs 
or nodules growing upon their roots. These 
nodules are the homes of germs; and these, 
germs seize upon the nitrogen of the air and 
turn it over to the plant. This process is 
known as the fixation of nitrogen. Then if 
these crops are plowed under they not only 
add humus from their vegeiable substance, 
but nitrogen which has been gathered from 
the air. 

139. The nitrogen added in green -crops or 
Immus must go through the process of nitri- 
fication before it is available to the plant. 
Sometimes this process does not furnish nitric 
acid fast enough to supply rapidly growing- 
plants, and then a form of available nitrogen 
may be added direct. This can be done by 
using nitrate of soda or sulfate of ammonia. 
The former is mined in Chile ; the latter is a 
substance obtained from gas works. The am- 
monia formed from the nitrogen that was in the 
coal or wood is caught in sulfuric acid (generally 
known as oil of vitriol) . These two substances, 
together with dried blood from the slaughter 
houses, constitute the best commercial sources 
of nitrogen. 



ENRICHING SOIL— COMMERCIAL RESOURCES 93 

3. Phosphoric Acid 

140. Phosphoric acid is, next to nitrogen, the 
most important plant -food to be applied to 
land, and of the mineral constituents it is the 
most important. It is a constituent of all soils, 
though the amount may be variable. It is par- 
ticularly needed to insure hardiness and fruit- 
fulness. Consequently the different grain crops 
are large users of phosphoiic acid. A liberal 
supply of available phosphoric acid is necessary 
to young plants to give them strength and 
vigor. 

141. As humus decays or decomposes in the 
soil it not only supplies nitrogen, but it also 
makes some of the phosphoric acid available. 
Hence when the humus diminishes in the soil, 
there is often a corresponding lack of available 
phosphoric acid. Barn manures make available 
a considerable quantity of phosphoric acid. Soils 
which contain a fair supply of humus do not 
necessarily have enough of phosphoric acid. 
To such soils phosphoric acid may be supplied 
in an available form in acid phosphates. 

142. Pure phosphoric acid (P2O5) , however, is 
not used directly as a plant-food, but only when 
it is combined with some other substance, as 
lime. One of the chief sources of phosphoric 
acid IS bone, in which it is found combined 



94 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

with lime. The animals obtained the phosphoric 
acid from the plants they ate, which in their 
turn secured it from the soil. Another great 
source are the deposits of phosphatic rocks in 
the Carolinas, Florida and Tennessee. In these 
rocks the phosphoric acid and lime are com- 
bined in the same way as in bones. 

143. Bones and phosphoric rocks do not dis- 
solve in water, and consequently the phosphoric 
acid they contain is not easily absorbed by 
roots. These materials, therefore, are com- 
monly treated with acid, to make the phos- 
phoric acid soluble ; and the material is then 
known as an acid phosphate. 

144. In bones, one part of phosphoric acid 
(PoOr,) is combined with three parts of lime 
(CaO), and can be expressed as follows: 

Lime ^ CaO ^ 

Lime V Phosphoric acid ; or, CaO y P2O5 
Lime ) CaO ) 

This substance is tri- (or three) calcic phos- 
phate, and is insoluble. When sulfuric acid (or 
oil of vitriol) and water are brought in con- 
tact with the bones, part of the lime leaves 
the phosphoric acid, and its place is taken by 
water. If one part of the lime is united with 
the sulfuric acid, then there results a sub- 
stance which can be written thus : 



ENRICHING SOIL — COMMERCIAL RESOURCES 95 

Water ") H2O ^ 

Lime v Phosphoric acid ; or, CaO [■ P2OS 
Lime ) CaO ) 

This is di- (or two) calcic phosphate. This is 
insohible in rain-water, but becomes sohible in 
tlie soil-water. 

145. If two parts of the lime be united with 
sulfuric acid and their places be taken by water, 
there remains : 

Water "^ HoO"^ 

Water v Phosphoric acid ; or, H2O V p^Os 
Lime ) CaO ) 

This is mono- (or one) calcic phosphate. This 
is readily soluble in soil water, but in the soil it 
tends to become insoluble, or to revert to the 
dicalcic form (and is then said to be "reverted"), 
and some of it may eventually become tricalcic 
and unavailable. The lime that is removed by 
the sulfuric acid unites with the sulfuric acid to 
form calcium sulfate ;'that is, plaster or gypsum 
(CaS04). The dicalcic and monocalcic are the 
forms that are known as acid phosphate, and 
sold in commercial fertilizers. 

4. Potash {potassium oxide, K2O) 

146. Next to phosphoric acid, potash is the 
most important mineral plant-food. It is placed 
after phosphoric acid in importance not be- 



96 THE I'KlNCll'LJiS OF AUUICULTUKE 

cause plants can better do without it, but 
because it is usually more abundant in soils. 
Potash has an important office in the produc- 
tion of firm, woody tissue and of starch, and 
it is thought to be particularly needed by fruit- 
plants, potatoes, and root crops. It is gen- 
erally deficient in sandy and peaty soils. 

147. Like phosphoric acid, potash becomes 
available with a liberal supply of humus and 
by good tillage ; and the potash in barn ma- 
nures is soluble and valuable. Whenever wood 
ashes can be cheaply obtained they form a valu- 
able source of potash, for the potash taken 
from the soil by the trees remains in the ashes 
when the wood is burned. 

148. Potash is found in great deposits in 
Germany, very much as common salt is found 
in the United States. There it is mined and 
sold. It can be bought in the form known as 
the muriate of potash, or more properly potas- 
sium chlorid, KCl. Another form of potash is 
the sulfate, K2SO4. The sulfate costs a little 
more than the other, because it is made from 
the muriate. For general purposes, the muri- 
ate is recommended over the sulfate because 
it is cheaper ; but the muriate has a dele- 
terious effect on tobacco, and it is thought 
to give less satisfactory results on sugar-cane 
and potatoes. 



KNKICHIXG SOIL — COMMKKCIAL KK.SOUROES 97 

5. Amendments 

149. Substances which contain only traces 
of the important or available plant- foods often 
have a beneficial effect on soil. Lime and salt 
are examples. Though they may not add to the 
soil any needed pi ant -food, the plants are en- 
abled by their presence to utilize more of the 
plant -food already in the soil. Such materials 
are known as amendments (58) . 

150. It is often difficult to decide, in any 
particular case, just how an amendment pro- 
duces its effect. It may be that the mechanical 
condition of the soil is improved, its water- 
holding capacity increased, its acidity or sour- 
ness neutralized, or its plant -food unlocked. 

151. Lime. Soils sometimes become sour, and 
may then be unsuitable for some plants. One 
of the reasons why plants do not thrive well in 
sour soils is that it is difficult to obtain sufficient 
nitrogen in the form of nitrates. The germs 
which carry on the process of nitrification are 
unable to do their work in sour soils. The soil 
acid can be neutralized — the soil sweetened — by 
applying lime (which is calcium oxide, CaO). 

152. Lime may be applied in the form of 
water- slaked lime, such as is obtained by adding 
water to quick -lime till it crumbles, or by air- 
slaked lime. Quick-lime usually gives the better 



98 THE PKINCIPLES OP AGRICULTURE 

results, particularly when it is desired to improve 
the texture of clay soils (58, 58«). 

153. A soil may be tested to determine if it is 
acid by placing a piece of blue litmus paper 
(kept at drug stores) against the moist soil. If 
the paper reddens and remains so after drying, it 
shows the presence of an acid in the soil. It is 
best to apply the paper not to the top of the soil, 
but to the side of a hole such as would be made 
by inserting a spade and moving it to and fro. 

6. Commercial Fertilisers 
6a. What they are 

154. Under the name of commercial fertilizers, 
one can buy the various forms of nitrogen, phos- 
phoric acid and potash. These elements may be 
purchased singly or mixed in any combination. 
A fertilizer containing all three is called a com- 
plete manure or fertilizer. In buying, one should 
be guided by the guaranteed analysis and not by 
any particular name or brand. 

155. The commercial value of nitrogen is 
about three times that of either phosphoric acid 
or potash, which, are approximately 5 cents per 
pound. The prices of these elements may vary, 
but the following will serve as an illustration of 
the computing of relative values of diiferent fer- 



ENRICHING SOIL — COMMERCIAL RESOURCES 99 

tilizers (remembering that 1 per cent means one 
pound in a hundred, or twenty pounds in a ton) : 

No. 1. Guaranteed Analysis 

Nitrogen 1.60 to 2.00 per cent 

Phosphoric acid available . 7.00 to 8.00 " " 

Potash 2.00 to 3.50 " " 

Cost per ton, $29. 

Multiplying the lowest figure representing the 
per cent of the given element by 20, and calcu- 
lating the value from the price per pound, we 
have in No. 1 : 

Nitrogen . . .1.60X20= 321bs.@15c. = $4 80 

Phosphoric acid 7 X 20 = 140 lbs. @ 5c. = 7 00 

Potash .... 2 X20= 40 lbs .(g;, 5c. = 2 00 

Commei-eial value per ton $13 80 

156. Another example of computation may 
be taken : 

No. 2. Guaranteed Analysis 

Nitrogen 3.30 to 4.00 per cent 

Phosphoric acid available . 8.00 to 10.00 " " 

Potash 7.00 to 8.00 " " 

Cost per ton, $38. 

Its value is calculated the same as No. 1: 

Nitrogen . . .3.30X20= 66 lbs.@15e. = $9 90 
Phosphoric acid 8. 00 X 20 = 160 lbs. @ 5c. =? 8 00 
Potash . . . . 7.00X20= 140 lbs.® 5c. = 7 00 



Commercial value $24 90 



100 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

157. The cheapest fertilizer is the one in 
which one dollar purchases the greatest amount 
of plant-food. In No. 1, $29 obtained $13.80 
worth, which is at the rate of 48 cents worth 
for $1. In No. 2, $38 buys $24.90 worth of 
plant-food, or at the rate of 65 cents worth for 
the dollar. The difference between the commer- 
cial value, as calculated, and the selling price, 
is to cover expenses of manufacture, bagging, 
shipping, commission fees, and profits. 

66. Advice as to their use 

158. We have seen that plants must have 
all three of the general fertility elements — nitro- 
gen, phosphoric acid, potash — in order to thrive. 
It frequently occurs, however, that the soil is 
rich enough in one or two of them ; and in that 
case, it is not necessary to apply all of them. 

159. If a liberal application is made of one 
element, the plant must use more of the other 
eleinents which are already in the soil, in order 
to balance up its gi'owth. If may result, there- 
fore, that the addition of one element exhausts 
the soil of some other element. For example, 
if heavy growth is obtained by the addition of 
nitrogen, the plant may need to draw so 
lieavily upon the stores of available phosphoric 
acid as to deplete the soil of that material. 



ENRICHING SOIL — COMMERCIAL RESOURCES 10 1 

160. Again, no results can be obtained from 
the addition of one element unless the other 
two are present in sufficient quantity. In gen- 
eral, therefore, it is safer to apply complete 
fertilizers. 

161. Yet, in some cases, it is unwise to 
apply complete fertilizers. This is particularly 
true of the application of nitrogen. The growth 
may already be so heavy that the addition of 
nitrogen would cause an overgrowth, and yet 
the plants may need fertilizing. This danger 
of too much growth is greatest with fruit 
plants (114). 

162. If nitrogen conduces especially to leaf 
growth (134), then it must be the element 
which is most important in the fertilizing ol 
the vegetables which are grown for their leaves 
or succulent stalks, as rhubarb, cabbage, let- 
tuce, spinach, asparagus ; and it is also very 
important in the growing of hay and succulent 
fodder. 

163. Nitrogen leaches rapidly, especially if 
applied in the form of nitrate of soda or sulfate 
of ammonia. It is, therefore, advisable to ap- 
ply it in the spring ; and when used in liberal 
amounts, it should be applied at intervals, and 
not all at one time. 

164. Phosphoric acid and potash, even if 
soluble, do not leach badly, as a rule, because 



102 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

they tend to form insoluble compounds with 
soil constituents. The more vegetable matter 
a soil contains, the less pronounced is the 
action of leaching. As a rule, commercial ferti- 
lizers are applied after the ground is fitted, and 
then harrowed in or drilled in. 

165. The amounts and kinds to apply are 
determined by (a) the analysis of the material 
(that is, its richness in plant-food), (h) its 
cost, (c) the richness of the soil in plant-food, 
{d) the tilth or texture of the soil (60, 49a), 
(e) the kind of crop, (/) the kind of farming, 
whether intensive or extensive (Ilia, 111&). It 
follows, therefore, that the mere analysis of 
the soil and the plant cannot determine what 
fertilizer it is most profitable to use. 

166. What fertilizers to use, and how to 
apply them, are subjects which are discussed 
in bulletins and books by many authors ; but 
even after reading all the literature, the farmer 
must experiment with his own land and his own 
crops, to determine just what materials are most 
profitable for his use. In other words, the ad- 
vice as to fertilizers is more valuable in teach- 
ing a man principles, in suggesting means of 
experimenting, and in designating the proba- 
bilities of any line of action, than in specifying 
just what fertilizers one shall use. An area on 
one side of a field may be devoted to such 



ENRICHING SOIL — COMMERCIAL RESOURCES 103 

experiment, on different parts of which the 
various elements and combinations of them 
may be applied. 

SUGGESTIONS ON CHAPTER VI 

127a. An element is a simple substance. It is not made by a 
combination of any other substances, and by no known means can 
it be separated into any other substances. Sulfur, nitrogen, and 
phosphorus are elements. The known elements number about 70. 

1276. The elements are represented by one or more letters, 
called symbols. Usually the first letter of the name is employed. 
Thus, nitrogen is designated by N, phosphorus by P, sulfur by 
S. When the names of different elements begin with the same 
letter, as sulfur and sodium, this rule cannot be followed. In 
such cases, letters from the name of one of the elements in some 
other language are used. Thus, Na is used for sodium, natrium 
being the Latin of sodium. Similarly, P might represent phos- 
phorus or potassium ; hence K is used for potassium, which in 
Latin is kalium. 

130rt. Compounds result from the chemical union (30c) of two 
or more elements. The compound may not resemble in any way 
any of the elements contained in it. The proportions in which 
elements unite vary, and the same elements may be made to 
unite in different proportions. The same compound always con- 
tains the elements in exactly the same proportion. 

VSOh. Compounds are represented by writing together the 
symbols of the elements composing them, together with figures 
to represent the proportions. Thus, potash, KoO, is a compound 
of two parts of potassium and one of oxygen, O. Lime, CaO, is 
composed of the elements calcium, Ca, and oxygen, and its 
chemical name is calcium oxid. Other compounds are nitrate of 
soda, NaNO:i ; ammonia, NH3 (H representing the element hy- 
drogen); water, H2O ; sulfuric acid, H2SO4 ; ammonium nitrate, 
NH4NO3 ; ammonium sulfate (NH4)2S04 (the NH4 being taken 
twice); starch, CeHioO.o (C; i-fepresenting carbon): salt. NaCl 
(CI standing for chlorinj. 



104 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

130c. Phosphoric acid and potash are not elements, but com- 
pounds. The elemental forms are phosphorus and potassium. It 
is customary, however, to speak of nitrogen, phosphoric acid 
and potash as the elements of plant-food. Here the word ele- 
ment is not used in the chemical sense, but rather as the sim- 
plest form in which plants can use these substances. 

131a. Roots have the power of dissolving plant-food (30, 
30a), but this is only a process of making it soluble. Substances 
which are not soluble in rain water may be soluble in soil water, 
for the water in the soil contains various acids. Even when a 
substance is in solution, the plant has the power of rejecting it ; 
it is thereby not available as plant-food. For example, nitrogen 
in the form of nitrites (as nitrite of soda, NaN02) is not availa- 
ble, although it is soluble ; but nitrogen in the form of nitrates 
(as nitrate of soda, NaNO^) is available. Charcoal is not availa- 
ble plant-food, although it is carbon, and carbon enters more 
largely than any other element into plant tissue. But when the 
charcoal is burned, it forms a gas called carbon dioxid or carbonic 
acid (CO2), from which the plant can get carbon. 

140ffl. The black or blue head of an old-fashioned sulfur 
match is a paste containing the element phosphorus, P. On 
igniting the match, this phosphorus unites with the element 
oxygen, O, in the air to form a small white cloud, which is the 
compound phosphorus pentoxid. Its symbol is P2O5, which 
means that it is made by the union of two parts of phosphorus 
and five parts of oxygen. Phosphorus pentoxid is known in 
agriculture as phosphoric acid. 

14o</. The term superphosphate is sometimes used in the 
same sense as acid phosphate ; that is, to designate available 
phosphates, or those which are made up of monocalcic and 
dicalcic phosphates. A fertilizer containing available phosphoric 
acid, but no nitrogen or potash, is often called a plain superphos- 
phate. Complete fertilizers contain all three of the important 
plant-foods. 

!.').'?«. Moisten a strip of Vilue litmus paper with vinegar or 
sour milk, and note the change in color. Then add to the milk 
or vinegar some lime water till it no longer tastes sour, and 



ENRICHING SOIL— COMMERCIAL RESOURCES 105 

agaiu try the litmus paper. It will no longer turn red. Try 
some air-slaked lime in the same way. Make the same test 
with plaster of paris or gypsum, which is sulfate of lime. This 
will not neutralize the acid or sweeten the milk or vinegar. 
Make the same test with salt and sugar. A substance which 
turns blue litmus red is acid ; one which turns red litmus blue 
is alkaline. 

166a. The experiment stations of most of the older states 
issue bulletins of advice on the use of fertilizers, and these 
should be studied. In many states there are laws designed to 
protect the purchaser of fertilizers ; and fertilizer control sta- 
tions are established to analyze the different brands and to 
publish the results. The general subject of fertilizers is pre- 
sented in Voorhees' book on "Fertilizers." Good advice will 
also be found in Chapter xii. of Roberts' "Fertility." 

166b. Every school should have bottles of the leading ferti- 
lizer chemicals for exhibition ; as muriate and sulfate of potash, 
kainit, gypsum or plaster, bone and rock phosphates, bone- 
black, dried blood, nitrate of soda, sulfate of ammonia, air- 
slaked lime, and quick-lime. These can be obtained from 
dealers in fertilizers. 



Pabt II 
THE PLANT, AND CROPS 



Chaptek VII 
THE OFFICES OF THE PLANT 

1. The Plant and the Crop 

167. In an agricultural sense, the plant, as 
a representative of the vegetable kingdom, has 
four general types of uses, or fulfils four offices: 
it aids in the formation, maintenance and im- 
provement of soils ; it influences the climate 
and habitableness of the earth ; it is the ulti- 
mate source of food of domestic animals ; it, or 
its products, may be of intrinsic value to man. 

168. When plants are grown in quantity, 
they, or their products, constitute a crop. This 
crop may be the produce of a bench of carna- 
tions, a field of barley, an orchard of peaches, 
a plantation of tomatoes, or a forest. The 
crop may be grown for its own or intrinsic 
value, or for its use in preparing the land for 
other crops. 

(.106) 



THE OFFICES Ob THE PLANT 107 

2. The Plant in its Relation to Soil 

169. The plant is a soil maker. It breaks 
down the rock by mechanical force and by dis- 
solving some of its constituents (30, 306) . It 
fills bogs and lagoons and extends the margins 
of lakes and seas (32, 32a). 

170. The plant is a soil improver. It opens 
and loosens hard soils, especially if, like the 
clover, it has a tap-root, which it sends deep 
into the earth. It fills and binds loose and 
leachy soils. When it decays it adds humus 
(33, 34, 73, 74). 

171. The plant is a soil protector. It pre- 
vents the washing of soils, and protects the 
sands of dunes and shores from the winds. 
It holds the rainfall until it soaks into the 
soil (70, 116). 

3. The Plant in its Relation to Climate 

172. The plant influences the moisture sup- 
ply: by modifying the distribution of precipi- 
tation ; by causing the retention of the pre- 
cipitation ; by lessening evaporation ; by adding 
moisture to the atmosphere. 

173. The plant influences the habitableness 
of the earth by other means : as by modifying 
extremes of temperature ; by affording wind- 



108 THE PKINCIHLES OF AGRICULTUKE 

breaks ; by supplying shade ; by contributing 
to the beauty and variety of the landscape. 

4. The Plant in its Relation to Animal Life 

174. Nearly all domestic animals live directly 
on plants. These are herbivorous animals, such 
as cattle, horses, sheep. But even the flesh 
which carnivorous animals eat— as dogs, cats — 
is directly or indirectly derived from herbivo- 
rous animals ; for "all flesh is grass." 

175. The round of life begins and ends with 
the soil. The soil contributes to feeding the 
plant, the plant feeds the animal, and the ani- 
mal passes at last into the soil. In this round, 
there is no creation of elements, and no loss ; 
but there are endless combinations, and these 
combinations break up and pass away. To 
raise the plant, therefore, is the primary effort 
in agriculture. 



5. The Plant has Intrinsic Value to Man 

5a. As articles of food or beverage 

176. Plants or plant- products may be staples 
or necessaries, as wheat, rice, potatoes, beans ; 
semi -staples, or articles of very general and 
common use, as apples, oranges, buckwheat ; 



THE OFFICES OF THE PLANT 109 

luxuries or accessories, as quinces, cauliflowers, 
glass-house vegetables ; condiments, as spices ; 
beverage products, as cider, wine. 

177. Plants or plant -products may be food 
for animals, as grains, ground feed, fodders, 
forage or field pasturage. 

56. As articles used in the arts 

178. Plants may afford textiles or fibers, as 
cotton, hemp, flax, jute ; wood, lumber and 
timber ; medicines, as quinine, opium, ginger. 

5c. As articles or objects to gratify (esthetic tastes 

179. Plants are the source of most per- 
fumery, and of many dyes and paints. 

180. Plants are themselves useful as orna- 
mental subjects. They may be grown for their 
effects as individuals or single specimens, as a 
tree, a shrub, or a plant in a pot; or for their 
effects in masses in the landscape. 

181. Plants are useful for their flowers or 
ornamental fruits. The flowers may be desired 
in mass effects, as single specimen plants, or a& 
cut- flowers. The growing of plants for their 
effects as individuals or for cut- flowers is 
floriculture ; the growing of them for their com- 
bined or mass effects in the open (or on the 
lawn) is landscape horticulture (9). 



110 



THE PRINCIPLES OP AGRICULTURE 



SUGGESTIONS ON CHAPTER VII 



170a. Tap-roots (Fig. 33) extend the benefits of root action 
to great depths. They drain, aerate and comminute the soil; 





Fig. 33. The deep root-system of 
red clover. 



Fig. 34. The shallow root-system 
of orchard grass. 



and the plant-food which they bring from the subsoil is left, 
when the plant decays, in such place and condition that sur- 
face-rooted plants can get it. With the clover, compare a 
grass (Fig. 34). 

171 fl. In many countries definite efforts are made to hold 



THE OFFICES OF THE PLANT 111 

loose sands from drifting by winds, as along the coasts of the 
sea. Sand-loving plants with strong running roots or root- 
stocks — as various grasses and sedges — are used for this pur- 
pose. One of the uses of windbreaks is to lessen the drifting 
of sands. Bluffs and railway embankments are often held from 
caving and washing by means of strong-rooted plants. 

172a. Large forests probably have some influence in dis- 
tributing the rainfall, the precipitation tending to be greatest 
near the forest areas. By some persons it is thought that the 
total precipitation is increased by forests, but this point is in 
dispute. The off-flow or outflow from forest-covered, or from 
any plant-covered, lands is more gradual than from bare lands; 
thus floods are more frequent and more serious the more com- 
pletely the forests are removed. This is illustrated in the floods 
on the Ohio and other rivers. 

\72h. Plants lessen evaporation chiefly in the capacity of 
shelter-belts. Windbreaks check evaporation from adjacent lands 
(see King, "The Soil," pp. 204-206); and this is one valuable 
effect of windbreaks for fruit-plantations in dry climates (see 
Bailey, "Principles of Fruit- Growing," pp. 48-51.) Forest areas 
contribute some of their moisture to the atmosphere of con- 
tiguous areas ; and plants give off moisture from their grow- 
ing parts. 

173a. For a full discussion of windbreaks, see "Principles 
of Fruit-Growing," pp. 47-57, 62-92. 



Chaptee VIII 
HOW THE PLANT LIVES 



/>'. M. DVGGAIi 



1. The Plant Activities 

182. The plant is a very dependent struc- 
ture: it must be supplied with water and certain 
soluble salts from the soil, oxygen and carbon 
dioxid from the air, in addition to sunlight and 
a certain amount of heat. Wlien these con- 
ditions are fulfilled, — somewhat as a plant's 
ancestors have been accustomed to them, — 
the plant must grow, provided no extraneous 
diseases or accidents overtake it. 

183. A growing plant is influenced by all 
of the external conditions about it, — it is sen- 
sitive, or manifests irritability. In studying 
growth processes, we must remember that these 
processes are occurring in a highly responsive 
living object, an object with both inexplainable 
internal forces and with processes most favor- 
able for chemical and physical study. To study 
how a plant lives, one must consider the im- 
portant factors of growth, actual growth phe- 

(112) 



HOW THE PLANT LIVES 113 

nomena, and certain other conditions to which 
growth is sensitive. 



2. The Factors of Growth 
"la. Water in the plant 

184. The rigidity or stiffness of any herb 
or succulent part is largely dependent on its 
water content. If a succulent branch is severed, 
it soon loses its water by evaporation, and it 
becomes flaccid, or wilted. The proper exten- 
sion, or turgidity, of the cells of plants with 
water is necessary for active growth. The pas- 
sage of the soil water into the plant, and there- 
after its transfer from living cell to living cell, 
is accomplished by the process of osmosis, which 
is the diffusion of liquids through membranes. 
Much of this water eventually reaches certain 
conducting parts, or bundles. 

185. Surrounding each rootlet for some dis- 
tance back of the tip is an enveloping growth of 
delicate root-hairs. These hairs are single, 
tubular cells, the outgrowth of single cells in 
the outer layer of the root. Each one contains 
within its walls, as do all active cells, living 
matter called protoplasm, along with cell -sap. 
In the soil these delicate hairs push readily in 
amongst the soil particles, covering an immense 



114 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGKICULTURE 

amount of space. Owing to the denser cell -sap 
of the root-hairs these hairs absorb water by 
osmosis. There are in solution in the soil 
water minute quantities of food substances, and 
these are absorbed independently of the relative 
amounts present. The absorptive activity, or 
pull, of the root- hairs is so great that water may 
be extracted from a soil apparently dry. 

186. Plants contain much water; but it re- 
quires oven temperatures, about 222° F., to 
drive out all the water from plant substance. 
The total water in some plants, as determined 
by the chemist, is as follows: 

Dry clover seed 6.4 per cent. 

Dry beans 12.5 " 

Green apple twigs 50.0 " " 

Potato tubers 80.0 " " 

Green clover tops ...... 85.0 '' " 

187. Water is absorbed in greater quantity 
than can actually enter into the composition of 
the living plant; and the surplus water is thrown 
off by a process of evaporation known as tran- 
spiration. The water is rapidly transpired from 
certain plant surfaces, especially from the leaves 
and green stems. The water current is import- 
ant; for example, it promptly distributes foods. 

188. Leaves are provided with thousands of 
minute pores in the epidermis, connecting with 
the delicate tissues within. These pores, or 



HOW THE PLANT LIVES 115 

stomata, are especially abundant on the under 
surfaces of most leaves. With changes in the 
water content of the plant, these stomata open 
or close, to a degree facilitating or inhibiting 
transpiration. Like evaporation, transpiration is 
hastened by higher temperatures, dry air, wind, 
and the movements of the plant. On a very 
hot day, or with insufficient soil moisture, a 
plant may wilt, due to the fact that all of the 
facilities for checking transpiration fail to keep 
the balance between root absorption and tran- 
spiration. The plant gives off more water than 
it takes up; therefore, it wilts. 

189. The absorptive activity of the roots gives 
rise to a sap- or root- pressure which tends to 
force the current upward. In fact, the lifting 
power of transpiration, osmosis, root-pressure, 
and other forces cause the crude sap to ascend 
through the woody bundles of the plant; and by 
means of these bundles absorbed solutious are 
carried upward through all parts of root and 
stem, and through the leaf- stalk, veins and vein- 
lets to all parts of the leaf. 

21). Solnhle salts from the soil 

190. Along with the soil water absorbed by 
the roots, minute quantities of the various min- 
eral salts necessary for plant growth are taken 
in. These salts are in solution. In the plant. 



116 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

these solutions become a part of the ascending 
sap, and they are diffused to all parts where 
assimilation goes on. Plants possess a certain 
selective absorption, yet soil elements not utilized 
by the plant are also absorbed in greater or 
less quantity depending on whether or not de- 
posited in inert form. Carbonic acid, and per- 
haps other substances excreted by the root, aid 
in dissolving some of the mineral salts (30). 

191. Various substances are taken in with 
the soil water. Sodium and potassium nitrate 
(nitre) , calcium phosphate (phosphate of lime) , 
and potassium sulfate are well-known ingredients 
of fertilizers. Chemical analysis and experiments 
show that from these and allied salts the plant 
obtains from the soil such necessary elements as 
nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, and 
sulfur. In addition, plants also secure from the 
soil traces of iron", and whatever magnesium, sili- 
con, and other mineral elements maybe necessary. 

192. When a plant is burned in air, the ash 
contains all of the above-named elements except 
the nitrogen and a part of the sulfur and phos- 
phorus. Nitrogen, one of the most important of 
plant- foods, can be used chiefly in the form of 
nitrates, except in the case of leguminous plants 
(110, 138) , in which it is also taken from the air in 
some obscure w^av bv bacteria of the root tubercles. 



HOW THE PLANT LIVES 117 

2c. Oxygen 

193. Oxygen is essential to all of the life pro- 
cesses in the plant, as well as to the animal. Vov 
perfect germination oxygen is required, and this 
gas diffuses into and is used by all living or grow- 
ing plant organs. The stomata of leaves and 
shoots are mechanisms insuring an adequate 
supply for these parts. Enternig these stomata, 
it is readily diffused throughout the neighboring 
cells and tissues. 

194. Oxygen is then constantly "absorbed," 
and associated \\\i\\ this absorption is the giving 
off of carbon dioxid. This appropriation of 
oxygen and escape of carbon dioxid are results 
of respiration, a process equivalent in its pur- 
pose and results to respiration in animals. Young- 
growing plants absorb an amount of oxygen about 
equal to their volume, in from twenty-four to 
thirty -six hours. Germinating seeds absorb oxy- 
gen, and give off ordinarily about an equal quan- 
tity of carbon dioxid. 

195. Germinating seeds, opening flower buds, 
parts of plants that have been injured, and cer- 
tain organs in which decay is imminent, respire 
more rapidly than other parts. Respiration prac- 
tically represents molecular change and the re- 
lease of energy in the living substance. 

196. Oxygen is also taken in through the 
roots. Land plants, whose roots are deprived of 



118 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

their air by too much water, are soon suffocated. 
This is especially noticeable in a field of Indian 
corn or maize which has been overflowed; and it 
is also a condition frequently met with in those 
greenhouses where an abundant use of water is 
the first rule. Many plants which have become 
accustomed to boggy regions, and many green- 
house plants, send up to the surface numerous 
root formations in response to a need of fresh 
air, or oxygen. 

2(1. Carbon dioxid and sunlight 

197. The element that is present in greatest 
amount in plants is carbon. This material is 
derived in green plants from the carbon dioxid 
(or carbonic acid gas) of the air. 

198. In order to become plant-food, the car- 
bon dioxid of the air first diffuses into the leaves ; 
then its utilization depends on the green color- 
ing matter of leaves,— or the chlorophyll, — and 
on sunlight. The chlorophyll absorbs some of 
the energy of sunlight, and by means of the 
energy thus provided, there is effected a rear- 
rangement of the atoms of carbon dioxid and 
water, such that sugar, and ultimately starch, 
may be produced and some oxygen is set free. 
This process of the formation of plant- food from 
carbon dioxid and water, with the consequent 
giving off of oxygen, is photosynthesis (some- 



HOW THE PLANT LIVES 119 

times known as carbon assimilation). It is in 
its results the reverse of respiration, in which 
oxygen is taken in and carbon dioxid given off. 

199. During the day a much greater amount 
of oxygen is set free as a result of photosynthesis 
than that used in respiration, so that a surplus 
of oxygen actually diffuses into the air, and plants 
are said to purify the air. At night, no photo- 
synthesis goes on, and the chief end-product of 
respiration, carbon dioxid, is given off, and may 
be demonstrated by experiment. 

2e. Heat, or a definite temperature 

200. Heat increases the absorptive activity of 
the roots, the rate of transpiration, the amount of 
respiration, and the products of photosynthesis. 

201. A more or less definite degree of heat 
is necessary for all living processes. As a rule, 
seeds will not germinate at the freezing point, 
and all growth is suspended at that temperature. 
Plants grow best within a very small range of 
temperature, known as the optimum tempera- 
ture. As a rule, other conditions being equal, 
plants of moist tropical regions are succulent, and 
green tissues preponderate. In the frigid regions 
the softer green parts are greatly reduced, and, 
while the woody part is of less extent than in 
the temperate regions, relatively it preponderates. 

202. Different plants are injured by different 



120 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

temperatures. Such plants as cotton and the 
melon are killed by a temperature several degrees 
above freezing. The living protoplasm is stimu- 
lated to give up its water, the roots are chilled 
and cannot supply to the leaves that water nec- 
essary to offset transpiration, and, as a result, 
the leaves soon wilt and blacken. On the other 
hand, even the green parts of some plants will 
withstand freezing temperatures. The ability to 
resist cold depends primarily on the response 
of the protoplasm, its capacity to give up water in 
freezing without injury, together with the power 
of reabsorption on thawing. 

3. The Processes of Growth 

203. The starch that may result from photo- 
synthesis or the use of carbon dioxid is stored in 
the leaves during the day, and at night it may be 
entirely removed and used after being converted 
into a soluble substance, sugar. Some of this 
sugar is directly used in building up more complex 
compounds used in growth, and some of it is again 
converted into starch and stored in tubers, stems, 
or thickened leaves, for future growth purposes. 

204. The external evidences of growth are 
changes in form and size of the different parts. 
The internal evidences of growth are to be seen in 
the differentiation of the individual cells of which 



HOW THE PLANT LIVES 121 

the plant is composed, — new cells are made, and 
others are modified in size or form. It is prob- 
ably impossible for a plant to live without ^row^- 
ing ; but under poor conditions the growth may be 
so slight that the plant is no longer of any use 
to the farmer. 

205. The young stems of many plants elongate 
throughout the entire length of the growing 
part. But the lower part soon reaches the limit 
of its growth, the rear internode — or space be- 
tween the joints — ceases to elongate, and further 
growth in length proceeds only in the newer parts 
above. That is, while there is an elongation or 
stretching of the shoot itself, this elongation 
gradually lessens below, so that the region of 
most rapid growth is constantly in the freshest 
and softest part of the shoot. Notice that the 
distance between the joints in growing shoots 
tends for a time to increase. 

l20n. The root grows differently. The tip of 
tlie growing root is hard, being protected by what 
is known as a root -cap. Growth in length takes 
place just behind this hard tip, not throughout 
the length of the growing part. The root, there- 
fore, is able to push its way around obstacles. 

207. In most of our woody plants, increase in 
diameter is effected by a layer of growing tissue, 
the cambium, located just beneath the bark; and 
every year it gives rise to a new layer of wood on 



122 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

the outside of the old wood, and to a new layer 
of bark on the inside of the old bark. Thus the 
heart -wood is the oldest wood, and the outside 
bark constantly breaking off is the oldest bark. 
The interior wood takes less and less part in the 
activities of the plant, and the heart- wood of 
trees is nearly useless except as a support to 
the plant. 

4. Irritability 

208. Grrowing parts are sensitive or responsive. 
This responsiveness or irritability may be called 
forth by diverse external forces, and is manifest 
in definite movements, in growth reactions, and 
in complex internal changes. 

209. Some plants make visible movements, 
and may even be sensitive to shocks. The 
sensitive -plant suddenly closes its leaves and 
droops when touched ; the leaves of sun -dew 
and other insectivorous plants close upon their 
prey; and the tendril of the gourd gradually 
bends around the object it touches. 

210. Green parts turn towards the light, and 
assimilation is thereby increased. Plants in 
windows turn the broad surfaces of their leaves 
perpendicular to the incoming rays of light ; 
and a seedling gi^own under a box into which 
light is admitted through a single slit will grow 



HOW THE PLANT LIVES 123 

directly towards that slit, and even through it 
to the brighter light. 

211. Plants are sensitive to gravitation. The 
first root of the germinating seed is so sensitive 
to gravity that it ordinarily grows downward, 
wherever it may be and whatever may be its 
position. On the other hand, the first shoot is 
oppositely affected by gravity, and if a potted 
seedling is placed horizontally the stem soon 
directs itself upward. While its general tend- 
ency is downward, the root is nevertheless 
attracted in any direction by the presence of 
water. 

212. The reactions of plants to their environ- 
ments or surroundings may cause the plants to 
vary, or to assume new forms or characteristics; 
and these new featm^es may be of use to the 
farmer. Thus, with more light, the better are 
the roses or carnations grown under glass; the 
richer the soil, the stronger is the growth ; the 
higher the altitude or latitude, the greater is the 
proportion of dwarf plants. 

SUGGESTIONS ox CHAPTER VIII 

182a. A salt is the substance formed from the union of an aeid 
with some inorganic substance or base. The salt may be neutral, 
— neither aeid nor alkaline. Thus sulfuric acid and lime form 
the salt, sulfate of lime or gypsum; nitric acid and caustic soda 
form the salt nitrate of soda; muriatic (hydrochloric) acid and 



124 THK I'UlNCIPl.yS OF AGKlCUl/rUKE 

caustic potash form muriate of potash ; muriate acid and caustic soda 
form muriate of soda, which is commonly known as salt, — that is, 
it is common salt. 

184a. From a potato tuber which has lain in the air until 
somewhat wilted, cut circular segments about one-fourth of an 
inch or less in thickness. Place some of these pieces in water, 
and others in strong salt solution. In a short time those in 

water become more rigid, while 
those in strong salt water become 
flaccid. The cell-sap of the po- 
tato, containing some salts and 
sugars in solution, is a denser 
solution than the water, and the 
flow of water is inward to the 
denser solution ; hence the pieces 
absorb water. Of those pieces in 
strong salt solution the flow of 
water is outward, and the potato 
segments lose some of their water 
and become flaccid. See Atkin- 
son's "Elementary Botany," pp. 
13-18. 

Fig. 35. Root-hairs, enlarged. 

185a. A cross-section of a root- 
let in Fig. 35 shows the root hairs. These hairs are seen to be 
prolongations of the outer or epidermal cells. 

185b. By germinating a bean, pumpkin seed, or wheat in 
moss, or between folds of moist thick cloth, the root-hairs may 
be observed. Fig. 36 shows the fringe of hairs on such a seed- 
ling ; and Fig. 37 shows how the root-hairs attach the soil 
particles to the root. For a longer account of root -structures 
and root-action, compare Sorauer, "Physiology of Plants for the 
Use of Gardeners," pp. 4-7. 

186a. Any one who has handled both green and dry fodder 
has a general idea of how much water there may be in plants. 
Why do apples and grapes and cabbages shrivel after they are 
picked ? 

188a. A single epidermal pore is a stoma or stomate. The 




HOW THE PLANT LIVES 



125 



plural is stomata or stomates. Fig. 38 shows a fragment of leaf 
in cross -section, a being a stoma opening out on the lower sur- 

iface. Looking down upon the 
peeled-ofE epidermis of the lower 
surface, stomata are seen at Fig. 39. 
\ 188ft. Cut off a leafy branch of 

I any herb, insert the stem through 
I a perforated cork into a bottle of 
J water, and then place the whole 
'<! under a bell-glass. Note how soon 
^«s^ the water vapor thro'wn off condenses 
/^2 upon the glass. Compare Fie 10, 
|.. - ^ page 58. 

f 1 >.S('. The rate of trau 

spiration from a single leaf 
may be accurately observed 
as follows : A large U- 
j shaped glass tube is filled 
i with water, and into one end 
of this tube is inserted a 
, perforated cork bearing a 

I small glass tube or capillary 

|4__ . ;-. - , , ;■ , arm, bent at right angles. 

Fig. 3t). The root-h.-iirs In the other end of the li- 
as seen on a dark, tube is fitted a cork, through 
damp cloth. the perforation in wliich is 

inserted the leaf-stalk, with the stem reaching 
the water, as shown in Fig. 40. When this last 
cork is forced in, water will fill the capillary arm: 
and the recession of the water in this arm to 
supply that transpired shows the rate of tran- 
spiration. Wax or paraffin should be used to seal 
around the perforations. 

189ffl. Root-pressure or sap-pressure, may be 

made evident roughly by a very simple experiment. 
A . 1 , 1 . «. . Fig. 37. How the 

An inch or so above ground, cut off a stem ot some ^^jj adheres to 

actively-growing herbaceous plant, as the sun- the youngyoot. 




126 



THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 



flower. Pit tightly over this stub a few inches of rubber tubing, 
partially filling the tubing with water, and into the free end fit 
closely a small glass tube several feet long, supporting the tube 
by a stake. In a few hours water will begin to rise in the glass 
tube. This pressure in the common nettle may sustain a column 
of water over ten feet in height, and in the grape-vine a column 
more than thirty feet in height. It is inapplicable for plants that 
force up only a small volume of water under high pressure. 

189b. The sap ascends through the young woody parts, — 
the sap-wood in our common trees, and not between the bark and 
wood, as commonly supposed. To note the special channels 




Fig. 38. Cross-section of a leaf. Stoma at :i. 



Fig. 39. Four stomata. 



through which sap ascends, secure a few joints of green corn, 
a blade of celery, a leaf of canna, and some woody branch, and 
put the stem ends into a tumbler with a solution of some red 
dye or stain, preferably eosin or fuchsin. Often in the coui-se 
of a few hours there is external evidence that the colored liquid 
ascends through definite channels, at least with the succulent 
herbs. Now cut off the stems and note the colored regions, — 
in the corn those thread-like groups of fibers so noticeable when 
an old cornstalk is broken ; in the celery, likewise, through those 
stringy fibers known to all who have eaten tough celery ; and 
in woody plants, through the layers of wood nearest the bark. 

190rt. For fuller discussions of the subjects outlined in 190 
and 191, consult Sorauer, "Physiology of Plants for the Use of 
Gardeufrs," \>]>. IW-U. -48-51. 



HOW THE PLAN'J' LIVES 



127 



194a. Air in which seeds have been germinating has suffered 
a change; this can be shown in the following manner: — Fill a 
large-mouthed bottle half full with soaked beans or peas, add a 
small quantity of water, and cork it. After twenty- four hours, 
pass a lighted wax taper or waxed cord into the jar, and it will be 

extinguished. Make the same 
tests in a jar of air, and see that 
the taper burns. This is a striking 
change. As a matter of fact, the 
,-^^'-'' '^^^ ''*''/fS germination has increased the 

, V M_ ? amount of carbon dioxid and di- 

minished the amount of oxygen. 




but other more elaborate experi- 
ments would be needed to show 
how we know that these are the 
gases affected. 

I96rt. For a discussion of 
the relation of wet soils to oxy- 
gen-absorption, read Sorauer, 
])p. 77-80. 

1966. The '^ cypress 
knees " which project 
from the water in cypress 
swamps in the South are 
supposed to be aerating 
organs. 

197a. If a plant is 
burned in the air, the resulting ash is very small ; but if burned 
without free access of air, as in a charcoal pit, there remains 
a charred mass almost as great in volume as the substance 
burned. This mass is largely carbon, a most important element 
in all living matter, or protoplasm. In combination with the 
elements of water, carbon also forms most of the cellular tissue 
of plants, likewise the starches and the sugars, all of which are 
called carbohydrates. The manufacture of these starch-like com- 
pounds by the appropriation of the carbon dioxid of the air \a 



Fig. 40. Means of showing transpiration. 



128 



THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 



one of the peculiarities of green plants; and animals depend on 
lilants for the preliminary preparation of these necessary com- 
pounds. 

198r(. The word assimilation is sometimes used in this restricted 

sense in plants, as defined in 
198. In general speech it 
means the appropriation of 
prepared or digested food, as 
the assimilation of the food 
by the blood, or protoplasm. 

1986. Chlorophyll is the 
green coloring matter of 
plants. It looks to be in the 
form of minute grains. Most 
of the cells in Fig. 38 contain 
chlorophyll grains. 

198c. Plant-food, in the 
sense in which the term is 
here used, is a product of pho- 
tosynthesis, — sugar, starch or 
some similar material. In 
common speech the term food 
is used to designate any ma- 
terial taken in and ultimately 
used by the plant, as nitrates, 
potash, water; and a general 
use of the term is so well 
established that it cannot be 
overthrown. 

198r7. For further light on 
assimilation, compare Arthur 
and MacDougal, "Living 
145-152. 

in a deep beaker, containing 
growing bits of water-weed 




Fig. 41. Experiment to show the giving 
off of oxygen. 



Plants and Their Properties," pp. 
199a. Place under a funnel 
fresh spring or stream water, 
{Elodea Canadensis), and invert over the end of the funnel a test- 
tube filled with water, as in Fig. 41 . In the sunlight bubbles of 



HOW THE PLANT LIVES 



129 



gas will be seen to rise and collect in the tube. If a sufiQcient 
quantity of this gas could be quickly collected, on testing it 
with a lighted taper the flame would be seen to quicken per- 





Flg. 42. Opening of 
a bua of pear. 



Fig. 43. The marking of tiie stem and 
the spreading apart of the marks. 



ceptibly, indicating more oxygen than is contained in the air. 
In this case the carbon dioxid used is in solution in the water. 
The Elodea is common in still ponds. 

201a. On the subject of temperature and plant life, compare 
Bailey, "The Survival of the Unlike," pp. 44-48, Chapters xvii. 
and xix. ; and Chapter xiii. of Gaye's" Great World's Farm." 

202a. Compare Arthur and MacDougal, " Living Plants and 
their Properties," pp. 85-98, for a discussion of the influence of 
cold in injuring plants. 

203a. To test for starch in a potato tuber or other storage 



130 



'J'HK I'lnXCIJ'l.KS OK A(iia('ri>'J'l'KE 



Fig. 44. 

Marking the 

root. 



organ, spread a drop of tincture of iodine on the cut surface. 
and the blue or violet color indicates the presence of starch. 
Test the laundry starch. 

203&. To determine that starch is formed 
only in the green parts of leaves, secure a 
leaf variegated with white, like a eoleus or geranium, 
which has been some hours in sunlight. Place it in hot 
alcohol until the green color disappears, and then add some 
iodine. The parts which were green are colored violet - 
brown, indicating starch, but the white parts are un- 
colored. Another leaf covered with dark cloth for 
twenty-four hours will show little or no starch any- 
where, indicating the removal in darkness of the 
starch formed in sunlight. 

204rt. The opening bud of .-i 
beech is a good example for ob- 
servation of growth, as it ex- 
pands from day to day. The long scales of 
the winter bud become looser, and gradually, 
by the elongation of parts between them, 
the scales are forced apart, showing at the 
base of each a minute leaf of perfect form. 
Daily the leaf increases in size, the internodes 
or stem portions between the leaves elongate, 
the scales fall away, and from a bud of an 
inch in length, by elongation throughout its 
whole extent we have a leafy twig of many 
inches, with a terminal bud, and a bud in the 
axil of each leaf. The beginning of the spring 
growth is likewise well shown in the pear 
bud. Fig. 42. Consult Bailey's "Lessons with 
Plants," pp. 44-72, for fuller discussions, with 
many illustrations, of the opening of buds. 

205a. Mark a young stem, as at A in Fig. 
43 ; but the next day we shall find that these marks are farther 
apart than when we made them (B, Fig. 4;J). The marks have 
all raised themselves above the ground as the plant has grown. 




Fig. 45. The root, 
grows in end portion. 



HOW THE PLANT LIVES 131 

The stem, therefore, has grown throughout its length rather than 
from the end. — Bailey, "Lessons with Plants," p. 322. 

206«. Germinate a squash seed between layers of blotting-paper 
or cloth. When the root has grown an inch or two lay the plantlet 
on a piece of paper. Then lay a rule alongside of it, and make 
a mark (with indelible ink) one-quarter of an inch, or less, from 
the tip, and two or three other marks at equal distances above 
(Fig. 44). Now carefully replace the seed. Two days later, 
examine it; we shall most likely find a condition something like 
that in Fig. 45. It will be seen that the marks E, C, B, are prac- 
tically the same distance apart as before, and they are also the 
same distance from the peg, A A. The point of the root is no 
longer at D D, however, but has moved on to F. — Bailey, '^Lessons 
with Plants," p. 321." 

207rt. We now see that the "sap" of trees is a very complex 
substance. It is the juice or liquid in the plant. The liquid 
which first comes in at the root is water, with very dilute pro- 
portions of various substances. But the sap also carries the 
products of assimilation to all parts of the plant, to build up the 
tissues. In common speech, the upward-moving water, recently 
taken in from the soil, and known as the "transpiration stream,'' 
is often called crude sap; and the liquid carrying sugars and 
other organic compounds is called elaborated sap. 

2090. See the discussions and pictures of moving parts in 
Bailey's "Lessons with Plants," pp. H96-406; also Barnes' "Plant 
Life," pp. 188-208; Atkinson's "Elementary Botany," pp. 82-92; 
Arthur and MacDougal's "Living Plants," Chapters i.-iv., and 
other botanical treatises. 



Chapter IX 

THE PROPAGATION OF PLANTS 

1. The Kinds of Propagation 

213. Plants naturally propagate by two gen- 
eral means, — by seeds and by buds. All the 
modes of the propagating of plants employed by 
the farmer and gardener are but modifications 
of these two general types. 

214. The farmer has three objects in view in 
the propagation of plants: to renew the genera- 
tion, or to prevent the stock from dying out; to 
increase the number of plants ; to perpetuate a 
particular variety. Thus, the farmer must resow 
his wheat, or he will lose the stock; but he ex- 
j)ects to secure more plants than were concerned 
in the production of the seed which he sows ; 
and he also expects to reap a particular variety, 
as Diehl or Mediterranean. 

215. Seeds are always able to preserve the 
race or stock and to increase the number of 
plants, but they are not always able to produce 
the variety which bore them. Most farm crops 
and most garden vegetables reproduce the va- 

(132) 



THE PROPAGATION OP PLANTS 138 

riety from seeds ; but most fruits and trees and 
shrubs do not, and in such cases recourse 
is had to bud propagation, as layers, cuttings, 
grafts. 

2. Seedage, or Propagation hy Seeds 
2a. Requisites of germ ivaf ion 

216. In order that seeds shall germinate, the 
seeds themselves must be viable (or "good"). 
Viability depends upon (a) the maturity of the 
seeds, (6) freshness, — they shall not have lost 
their vitality through age, — (c) the vigor and 
general healthfulness of the plant which bore 
the seeds, (d) proper conditions of storage. 

217. (h) The length of time during which 
seeds retain their vitality varies with the kind of 
plant and with the conditions under which the 
seeds were grown. That is, there is a normal 
vitality and an incidental vitality. Most seeds 
germinate best when not more than one or two 
years old, but retain strong vitality three or 
four years ; but some seeds, notably those of 
onions and parsnips, are usually not safe after 
a year old. 

218. In order that seeds shall germinate, 
they must also have proper surrounding con- 
ditions : moisture, free oxygen (air), warmth. 



ly4 I'llK J'KlM(;iJ:'ijKS OK AUKlCL'bTUKK 

219. The ideal condition of the seed-bed, so 
far as water is concerned, is that it shall be 
moist, not wet. Wet soil injures seeds, largely 
by excluding oxygen. The older and weaker the 
seeds, the greater is the necessity for care in 
applying water : they should be kept only 
slightly moist until germination is well started. 
The soaking of seeds starts the germinating pro- 
cesses, but it should not be continued above 
twenty -four hours, as a rule, and should not 
be employed with very weak seeds. 

220. Oxygen is supplied to germinating seeds 
if sufficient air is allowed to reach them ; and 
the air reaches them if they are not planted too 
deep, nor kept too wet, nor the soil allowed to 
"bake." But all these conditions are greatly 
modified by the kind of soil. 

221. For each kind of seed there is a certain 
degree of warmth under which it will germinate 
to the best advantage ; and this is called the 
optimum temperature for that seed. The opti- 
mum temperature is not uniform or exact, but 
ranges through a limit of five to ten degrees. 
Seeds of most hardy plants — as wheat, oats, rye, 
lettuce^ cabbage, and wild plants — germinate best 
in temperatures between 45° and 65° ; those of 
tender vegetables and conservatory plants, be- 
tween 60° and 80°; those of tropical plants, 
between 75° and 95°. 



THE PROPAGATION OF PLANTS 136 

26. The raising of seedlings 

222. The ideal soil in which to plant seeds is 
loose and friable, does riot "bake," and is reten- 
tive of moisture. It is neither hard clay nor 
loose sand. 

223. The looser the soil, the deeper the seeds 
may be planted, since the plantlets can easily 
push through the earth ; and the deeper the 
planting the more uniform is the moisture. For 
seeds of medium size and of strong germinating 
power, — as wheat, cabbage, apple, — a quarter or 
half inch is suflScient depth. In order to secure 
moisture about the seeds, the earth should be 
firmed or packed over them, particularly in a dry 
time ; but this surface earth is moist because 
water is passing through it into the air (103, 
104). 

224. The smaller the seed, the shallower 
should it be sown, as a rule, and the greater 
should be the care in sowing. Very small seeds, 
as those of begonia, should be merely pressed 
into the earth, and the surface is then kept 
moist by shading, laying on a paper, cloth or 
glass, or by very careful watering. Delicate 
seeds are often sown on the surface of well -firmed 
soil, and are then lightly covered by sifting soil 
or dry moss over them. Keep them shaded until 
germination is well progressed. 



136 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

225. Seeds may regerminate. That is, if 
germination is arrested by drought, the process 
may be renewed when congenial conditions recur, 
even though the young root may be dried and 
dead. This is true of wheat, oats, maize, pea, 
onion, buckwheat, and other seeds. Some seeds 
have been known to resume germination five 
and six times, even when the rootlet had grown 
half an inch or more and the seeds had been 
thoroughly dried after each regermination. 

226. Bony and nut- like seeds must generally 
be softened by lying long in the earth ; and 
the softening and splitting of the coverings is 
hastened by freezing. Such seeds are peach 
pits, walnuts, haws, and most tree seeds. Gar- 
deners bury such seeds in earth in the fall, and 
plant them the following spring. The seeds are, 
also, often mixed with sand, or placed between 
layers of sand in a box, and if the seeds are 
from hardy plants the box of sand is placed 
where it will freeze throughout the winter. This 
operation is known as stratification. 

3. Propagation by Buds 
3a. Why and how hud propagation is used 

227. When varieties do not "come true" or do 
not reproduce themselves from seeds, it is neees- 



THE PROPAGATION OF PLANTS 137 

sary to propagate them by means of buds. In 
some cases, also, seeds are not produced freely, 
and then recourse is had to buds. In many 
instances, too, as in grafting, quicker results are 
obtained by bud propagation than by seed prop- 
agation. One means of dwarfing plants is to 
graft them on kinds of smaller stature. 

228. Of bud propagation, there are two gen- 
eral types, — that in which the bud remains 
attached to the parent plant until it has taken 
root, and that in which the bud is at once sepa- 
rated from the parent plant. Examples of the 
former are layers ; of the latter, cuttings. 

36, Undetached buds 

229. A layer is a shoot or a root which, 
while still attached to the plant, is made to 
take root with the intention that it shall be 
severed, and form an independent plant. 

230. The layers are bent to the ground, and 
at one place or joint are covered with earth ; at 
this joint roots are emitted. Layering may be 
performed in either fall or spring, but the for- 
mer is usually preferred. The layers are usually 
allowed to lie one season before they are sev- 
ered. Almost any plant which has shoots that 
can be bent to the ground can be propagated 
by layers ; but the best results are obtained in 
plants which have ratlier soft wood. 



138 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

3c. Detached buds 

231. Of propagation by detached buds, there 
are two types,— buds which are inserted in the 
soil or in water, and those which are inserted in 
another plant. The former are cuttings ; the 
latter are grafts. 

232. Cuttings may be made of soft or un- 
ripe wood, or of hard and fully matured wood. 
Of the soft kinds are cuttings (or "slips") of 
geraniums, fuchsias, and the like. Of the hard 
kinds are cuttings of grapes and currants. 

233. Soft cuttings are made of shoots which 
are sufficiently mature to break or snap when 
bent double. They comprise at least one joint, 
and sometimes two or three. The leaves are 
removed from the lower end, and if the upper 
leaves are large they may be cut in two, or 
sheared, to prevent too rapid evaporation. A 
soil free from vegetable matter, as sand, is pref- 
erable. It is generally necessary to shade the 
cuttings until they are established. 

234. Hardwood or dormant cuttings are 
taken in fall or winter. They usually comprise 
two or more buds. They root better if they are 
callused (partially healed over on the bottom 
end) before they are planted : therefore, it is 
customary to buiy them in sand, or to stand 
them in sand,, in a cool cellai- until spring. In 



THK I'KOPAGATlUN OF PLANTS 189 

spring they are set into the ground up to the 
top bud. 

235. Single -eye cuttings — that is, one -bud 
cuttings — are sometimes employed when buds 
are scarce, as in new or rare plants. These are 
usually started under glass. They are planted 
half an inch or an inch deep, hi an oblique or 
horizontal position. 

236. Grafting is the operation of making 
one plant, or a part of it, grow upon another 
plant. The part which is transferred or trans- 
planted is the cion ; the plant into which this 
part is transplanted is the stock. 

237. A cion may contain one bud or many. 
It may be inserted in a cleft or split in the 
wood of the stock, or it may be inserted 
between the bark and wood of the stock. A 
single bud which is inserted between the bark 
and wood is technically known as a "bud," and 
the process of inserting it is known as budding; 
but budding is only a special kind of grafting. 

238. The cion and stock unite because the 
cambium of the two grow together. This cam- 
bium is between the bark and the wood (207) : 
therefore it is important that the inner face of 
the bark of the cion (or bud) be applied to the 
surface of the wood of the stock ; or, if the 
cion is inserted in a cleft, that the line between 
the bark, in the two, come together. 



140 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGKICULTUKE 

239. When the cion is inserted, the wounded 
surfaces must be tightly closed, to prevent the 
parts from drying out. Whenever the stock is 
cut off to receive the cion, thereby wounding the 
wood, wax is used to cover the wound ; when 
only the bark is raised to admit the cion or bud, 
a bandage is used. 

240. Grafting with hardwood cions of two 
or more buds — which is usually spoken of as 
grafting proper — is performed in spring, and 
the cions are cut in the winter and are kept 
fresh and dormant (as in a cellar) until wanted. 
The cion is made from the wood of the pre- 
vious season's growth, of the variety which it is 
desired to propagate. 

241. Budding — or inserting a single bud un- 
derneath the bark — may be performed whenever 
the bark of the stock will peel or "slip," and 
when mature buds can be secured. If performed 
in spring, the buds are cut in winter, as for 
grafting proper. If performed in late summer 
or early fall — and this is the custom — the buds 
are cut at the time, from the season's growth. 

SUGGESTIONS ON CHAPTER IX 

215a. It is impracticable, in this connection, to explain fully 
why it is that some plants "come true" from seed, and others 
(as apples, strawberries, roses) do not ; but the enquirer will 
find the matter expounded in Bailey's "Plant-Breeding," pp. 



THE PROPAGATION OF PLANTS 



141 



88-91 . The reason is that in plants which are habitually propa- 
gated by seeds, as the garden vegetables, we are constantly 
discarding the forms which do not oome true, and are thereby 
fixing the tendency to come true, — since only the individuals 
which do come true are allowed to per- 
petuate themselves. In plants which are 
not habitually propagated by seeds, this 
selection does not take place, and the 
tendency to come true is not fixed. 

217rt. The longest-lived seeds are those 
borne on plants which i-each their normal, 
healthy development. Those produced in 
very di-y years are apt to have low vitality. 
Seeds should be stored in a dry and fairly 
cool room. Tables of the longevity of garden seeds may be 
found on pp. 104-107 of the 4th edition of "Horticulturist's 
Rule -Book." 




Fig. 46. Seed-pot, covered 
with glass. 




'^U 



Fig. 47. Four layered shoots. 

219a. "Nursery -Book," pp. 1-7, discusses the means of 
regulating moisture, with illustrations. 

220o. As an experiment, plant corn a foot deep in warm, 



142 



THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 



firm soil. Run a little stick or splinter down to some of the 
seeds, allowing it to remain. The air enters alongside the stick. 
Observe if there is any difference in germination. If not, try- 
it when the soil is very wet. 

224a. Very small seeds are often sown very shallow in a 
pot, and a pane of glass is laid over the pot to check evapora- 



tion (Fig. 46). As soon 
pear, the glass is re- 
tailed directions for the 
see the " Nursery-Book," 
230ffl. An illustra 
given in Fig. 47. Four 
shoots are layered. One 
shoot, A, is layered in 





as the plantlets ap- 
moved. For de- 
sowing of seeds, 
pp. ir)-2.5. 
tioii of layering is 




Fig. 48. 



Ooleus cuttiug 



Fig. 49. Cutting held by 
tooth-pick (xj^). 



Fig. 50. One style of 

ehrysanthemum 

cutting {x%). 



two places, and two plants will result. "When the layers have 
taken root, the part is severed and treated as an independent 
plant. Honeysuckles, lilacs, snowballs, and many common 
bushes can be layered with ease. See Chapter iii., in "Nursery- 
Book," for full discussion. 

233a. These green cuttings may be planted in shallow boxes 
of sand, in coldframes or hotbeds, or in the bench of a glass- 
liouse. Figs. 48-50 illustrate the proi-ess. 

234ki. a grapp cutting is shown in Fig. 51. This is the 
common fashion for propagating tlie grape ; but new varieties 
are often grown ftvim single eyes, as shown in Fig. 52. Con.^ult 




Fig. 52. Single-eye grape cutting (x>^). 




Fig. 54. Shield bud. 




_ Fig. 51. 
Grape cut- 
ting (ij^). 



rr 




B1g. 55. Bud entering matrix (xj^). 



Fig. 57. Tiie bud in 
Fig. 55 was shoved 
down until cov- 
ered by the bark, 
Fig. 56. A waxed and now tied with 
stub {-xy^). bast. 



144 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICITLTURK 

Chapter iv. of ''Nursery-Book," for full directions for making!^ 
and growing cuttings. 

238a. Two eions inserted in a cleft in the stock are shown in 
Fig. 53. The cambium layers come together in the cion and 
the stock. A "bud" cion is shown in Fig. 54, and the operation 
of shoving this down between the bark and wood of the stock 
is seen in Fig. 55. 

239o. The waxing of a stock is illustrated in Fig. 56. The 
tying of a bud (by soft cord or bast) is shown in Fig. 57. 

240r/. The common style of grafting is suggested in Figs. 53 
and 56. This is known as cleft-grafting, from the splitting of 
the stock. It is the style nearly always employed in orchard 
trees of apples and pears. 

241a. Shield -budding is the common style. It is illustrated 
in Figs. 54, 55, 57. The buds are cut at the time of the bud- 
ding, the leaves being at once taken off to prevent evaporation ; 
but a bit of the leaf-stalk is usually left to serve as a handle, 
as seen in the picture. Peaches, cherries, plums, oranges, are 
usually budded. 

2416. In all kinds of grafting and budding, the operator 
must be careful to select cions, or buds, from only those varie- 
ties which he desires to perpetuate. The stocks used by nur- 
serymen are seedlings ; but even if the plant is grafted, it can 
be grafted again, the same as if it were a seedling. In most 
cases, a variety is grafted on another plant of the same general 
kind, as a peach on a peach, an apple on an apple, a plum on 
a plum ; but there are eases in which one kind or species is 
grafted on a different species: (a) to secure a dwarf plant, by 
grafting on a slow-growing root (as pear on quince), or {b) be- 
cause seeds of the given species are rare, and a closely related 
stock is therefore substituted. For extended accounts of bud- 
ding and grafting, refer to "Nursery-Book," Chapter v, 



Chaptee X 
PREPARATION OF LAND FOR THE SEED 



/. 1'. KOHKIITS 



1. Factors Which Determine the Preparation 
of the Seed -had 

242. Faulty preparation of the land is the 
cause of more failures than the subsequent 
treatment of the crop. In field conditions, this 
preparation can not be so thorough, or so ideal, 
as in garden areas or in glass-houses. The 
general condition of the farm work dictates to 
a great extent the particular time when the 
seed shall be sown and the amount of prepara- 
tory work which shall be put on the land : 
therefore, it is very important that the farmer 
fully understand what is required, in order that 
he may make no mistakes. 

243. The preparation of the land for seeding 
should be governed by two factors : by the 
needs of the particular plant which is to be 
grown, and by the character of the land. To 
prepare a seed-bed for any crop, the habits, 
likes and dislikes of the plants should be 

J (145) 



146 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

studied. That is, it is not enough that the 
land be well prepared: it should have the kind 
of preparation which is demanded by the crop. 

2. The Demands of the Plant 

244. The preparation of the seed-bed differs 
with the way in which the plant is propagated. 
Some plants are propagated by a piece or 
part of an underground stem or tuber, as the 
potato ; others by a branch of the aerial 
part, as the willow or sugar-cane. In all of 
these cases, the buds or eyes are surrounded 
with food for immediate use. This stored food 
gives them power to send out strong shoots and 
to grow for some time without having to secure 
nourishment from the soil. But many plants are 
propagated by tiny seeds. These start in 
life with little stored food, and, therefore, must 
quickly secure nourishment from the soil ; and 
the land must, therefore, be very well prepared. 
These seeds should be planted near the surface, 
for there will not be strength enough in the 
infant plant to push its way through, if planted 
as deep as the potato. 

245. Plants may change or modify their 
characteristics to adapt themselves to changed 
conditions. The common red clover is a tap- 
rooted plant, but if it grows on soil which is 



PREPARATION OF LAND FOR THE SEED 147 

underlaid with wet clay, it tends to become 
fibrous -rooted. Even long-lived perennials, as 
trees, do best when the surface soil is well pre- 
pared to a depth of ten to twelve inches, since 
many feeding roots of trees, especially of young 
ones, find nourishment in this prepared soil. 

246. Plants differ greatly, however, in ability 
to adapt themselves to unfavorable conditions. 
Many common plants send their tap-roots into 
the subsoil for two to three feet, even if it be 
hard, while sugar beets become fibrous -rooted, 
and may be pushed up and partly out of the 
ground if their tap-roots attempt to enter the 
undisturbed hard subsoil. Land devoted to 
clover need not necessarily be subsoiled if it 
be fairly free from stagnant water, while that 
planted to sugar beets should be subsoiled, 
for the reason that a long, fusiform root is 
desired, all or nearly all of which should be 
below the surface ; for that part of the beet 
which grows above the ground is not nearly so 
valuable for making sugar as that pai't which 
grows under ground. 

247. Nearly all of the common and quick- 
growing plants secure the larger part of their 
nourishment and moisture from the fii'st, or sur- 
face foot of soil. This being so, it is seen how 
necessary it is to prepare the soil in the best 
possible manner. If the upper soil is not well 



148 THE PRINCIPLES OF AURICULTUKK 

prepared, the roots must search wide and deep 
for food. 

248. Most of the smaller plants require but 
about six months in which to grow and to fruit. 
If, in order to secure nourishment and moisture, 
tlie roots are obliged to descend into the cold, 
hard subsoil, where the plant-food is likely to be 
least available, neither growth nor fruitage can 
be satisfactory. Those plants which do not ma- 
ture until they are five to twenty years of age, as 
fruit trees, can secure much nourishment from 
the subsoil, although they secure little in any 
one growing season. Then, too, trees must se- 
cure a firm hold on the land, or they will be 
prostrated by winds. By being obliged to send 
many of their roots into the cold, firm subsoil 
through many generations, trees have probably 
acquired the power of securing more of the tough 
or unavailable food of the subsoil than plants 
which live but one season. 

1241>. Different plants require not only to be 
])lanted at different seasons of the year, but at 
different depths. They demand different meth- 
ods of preparation of the surface soil. Some 
do best when placed in loose, warm soil, as, 
for instance, maize and sweet potatoes ; while 
others do best when grown on fairly cold and 
somewhat compacted surface soil, as winter 
wheat. 



PREPAhATlOX OF LAM) FOK THE SEKD l49 

3. The Preparing of the Seed-bed 

250. Nearly all plants thrive best when fur- 
nished with a full and continuous supply of 
moisture. Fine, loose earth, which contains a 
moderate admixture of humus, is capable of 
holding much moisture (73, 74) ; but the soil 
may be so loose and light as to admit too 
rapid movement of air, in which case the mois- 
ture will be carried away. If the particles of 
earth are separated too widely, capillarity is 
weakened. In such cases the subsurface soil 
should be slightly compacted, while one to thre<' 
inches of the surface is left loose to form an 
earth -mulch, which tends to prevent loss of 
moisture by evaporation. The particles of the 
loose surface earth -mulch should be so widely 
separated that the moisture can climb only to 
the bottom of it, for if it comes to the surface 
the air will carry it away (83). The earth -mulch 
shades the ground in which the plants are grow- 
ing, prevents the soil from cracking, and saves 
moisture. 

251. The seed-bed should contain no free 
water ; but it is impossible to secure this con- 
dition at all times. No serious harm may come 
when the soil is over- saturated at planting time, 
if the free water is quickly removed. If the 
soil contains more water than it can hold by 



150 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

capillarity, the air is driven out, and the soil 
swells and tends to become puddled (81). 

252. Many seeds will not germinate if planted 
out of season, or when the soil is cool, no matter 
how well the seed-bed is prepared. Then, if it 
is desired to plant early, make the land fine and 
loose, for in so doing the temperature of the 
soil is raised. The soil of a fine, porous seed- 
bed, resting on a well -drained subsurface and 
subsoil, is much warmer than one resting on a 
compact, undrained foundation. However, it is 
not wise to plant seeds out of season or when 
the weather is unsuitable. 

253. If small seeds are covered with but little 
earth, they may fail to germinate for lack of 
moisture. If covered with enough fine earth to 
insure a constant supply of moisture, the young 
plants have a hard struggle to reach the surface. 
Only a few of the small seeds, as clover and 
many of those planted in the kitchen -garden or 
flower-garden, ever produce plants. Sometimes 
the seeds are imperfect, but more often the fail- 
ure to secure vigorous germination is due to a 
poor seed-bed or to careless planting. To ob- 
tain better results, not only prepare a fine seed- 
bed and sow at the proper time, but compact 
the soil immediately over the row of seeds. 
This will enable capillary attraction to bring 
moisture to the surface, or near it (103). The 



PREPARATION OP LAND FOR THE SEED 151 

earth -mulch should remain unpacked between 
the rows, to conserve moisture. 

254. In some cases it is impossible to secure 
a proper seed-bed for small seeds. For ex- 
ample, no suitable seed-bed can be procured, 
as a rule, for clover seeds when sowed in a 
growing tilled crop. In order to secure germina- 
tion, these seeds are sown on the surface in early- 
spring, while the surface soil is still porous 
from winter freezing. The spring rains wash 
the seeds into the little cracks in the soil and 
partly cover them. The weather being cool and 
cloudy and the soil moist in early spring, the 
oily seeds of the clover are kept damp enough to 
insure germination. If such small seeds are sown 
in summer or early fall, the land is rolled for 
the purpose of supplying them with moisture. 

255. A good field seed-bed, then, can be 
secured profitably only on land which is either 
naturally or artificially well drained, which has 
been well broken and crumbled by the plow, and 
the surface of which has been thoroughly fined 
by the harrow. Particular care should be taken 
not to work heavy or clay lands when they are 
wet. Neither should clay lands be tilled so much 
that they become very dusty, else they will puddle 
when the rains come. The remarks respecting 
the proper tillage of the land (Chapter iv.) will 
apply here. 



152 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

4. Application of the Foregoing Principles 
4rt. Wheat 

256. Winter wheat does best when one or two 
inches of the siu-face soil is fine and loose, and 
the subsurface soil fine and fairly compact. 

257. To secure the ideal conditions, the 
ground should be plowed some time before sow- 
ing, and the manure spread on the rough 
surface. The ground is immediately harrowed, 
rolled, and harrowed again. In one or two 
weeks afterward it is surface -tilled again, with 
the implements best suited to the particular 
soil. All this tends to divide and cover the 
manure, compact, the subsurface soil, form a 
fine seed-bed, conserve moisture, and set free 
plant -food. 

258. This treatment of the land causes the 
roots to be many and fibrous, and to remain 
near the surface, where the plant -food is 
most abundant and available. If the manure 
is plowed under and the soil remains loose, the 
roots are less fibrous and descend to the 
bottom of the furrow. In the spring, it often 
freezes at night and thaws during the day. 
This tends to lift the plants and to break 
their roots. But if the roots are nearly hori- 
zontal and near the surface, they tend to rise 



PREPARATION OF LAND FOR THE SEED 153 

and fall with the freezing and thawing, and are 
not seriously injured. 

259. As the soil becomes hot at the surface 
in June and July, the shallow roots descend 
to the subsurface soil, where it is cool and 
where the plant- food was not drawn upon dur- 
ing the fall ; while the deep fall -rooted plants 
will be unable to find new feeding ground when 
they need it most, just before fruiting, unless 
the roots start toward the surface, which they 
will not do, for in midsummer the surface soil is 
hard and dryish and too warm for wheat roots. 

46. Maize, or Indian corn 

260. The seed-bed for maize, which is a sun- 
plant and does best when planted in a warm 
soil, may be prepared in a different way from 
that designed for winter wheat. Since maize is 
planted in the spring, when the soil is often too 
cool for this semi-tropical plant, the subsurface 
soil should not be as compact as for wheat. If 
left rather open, the warm spring rains pass 
quickly to the subsoil and warm the soil (77). 
The more open seed-bed will allow a freer circu- 
lation of warm air through the soil. 

261. The best machines for planting maize 
are those which deposit the seed one to two 
inches below the surface in the fine, moist soil, 



154 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

and compact the surface soil over the seed by 
means of concave wheels about eight inches 
wide, while the spaces between the rows are not 
compacted. The maize may be cultivated and 
harrowed before the plants appear, since the 
rows may be easily followed by the marks left by 
the concave roller wheels. The frequent inter- 
tillage which will be required to destroy weeds, 
to preserve the earth -mulch, and to set free 
plant-food, will compact the subsurface soil 
quite as much as is desirable. 

4c. Potatoes 

262. The potato should be planted deep and 
left with uncompacted surface soil. The seed 
potato contains about 75 per cent of moisture, 
and has a large quantity of stored food for 
nourishing the buds and sending up strong 
shoots. It thrives best in a cool, moist soil ; 
and this condition is secured if it is planted 
about four inches deep. 

263. It should also be remembered that pota- 
toes are enlarged underground branches, and 
that the new tubers preferably grow above the 
seed-tuber. If the seed-tuber be planted shal- 
low, the branch or stem above the seed is so 
short that there is little room for underground 
stems. 

264. Usually potatoes should not be hilled at 



PREPARATION OF LAND FOR THE SEED 155 

the last cultivation, for at that time the potatoes 
will have begun to form near the surface or in 
the subsurface soil, according to soil conditions, 
moisture, climate and variety. Then, to throw a 
mass of dirt on top of these underground stems, 
after they have chosen the best position for 
highest development, is to force them to adapt 
themselves to new conditions. 



SUGGESTIONS ON CHAPTER X 

242a. In this chapter, the word seed is used in its general 
agricultural sense, to designate seeds or other parts (as tubers) 
which are planted for field crops. 

243a. A seed-bed is the soil in which the seed is planted or 
sown. It may be the size of a window box, a hotbed frame, a 
garden bed, or a field of wheat. 

244a. The sprouts which appear on potatoes in cellars are 
supplied from the nutriment stored in the tuber. If a winter 
branch of a tree is stood in water in a warm room, leaves and 
sometimes flowers will appear in the course of a few weeks ; and 
the growth is made from the nutriment stored in the twig. All 
seeds have stored nutriment, but the small ones have very little, 
and it may be exhausted before the plantlets can get a foothold in 
the soil. The better and finer the seed-bed, the sooner the plant- 
let can establish itself. 

250a. The subsurface soil is that lying just below the surface, 
— between the surface and the subsoil. It is the lower part of the 
soil which has been loosened by the plow, — that part which is 
below the reach of the surface tilling. 

25Qb. The subsurface soil may be compacted by rolling (102), 
after which the surface is loosened by harrowing. When land is 
given much surface tillage, as for wheat, the tramping of the 
horses compacts the under soil. Loose, sandy lands may be 
plowed shallow in order to keep the subsurface compact (94) . 





Fig 58. A well drained l)nt moist 
soil. 



1' ig. .")y. .V wet and unr<)ngeni; 

soil. 




Pig. 60. A wheat plant properly grown, Fig, 61. The result of too loose soiJ, 
in the fall. and manure plowed under. 



PREPARATION OP THE LAND FOR SEED 



157 




Fig. 62. The ideal condition. 



251a. The Fig. 58 shows a drained soil supplied with iiiois- 
fure held by capillarity in the smaller interstices, while the 
larger channels have been relieved of free water by percolation. 
Fig. 59 represents a supersaturated soil from which air and heat 
are largely excluded. If 
seeds remain for a few days 
in this undrained soil they 
fail to germinate, and may 
rot. Should stagnant water 
remain in the soil for some 
time after the plants have 
appeared above ground, they 
will turn yellow, and may 
perish (194) . All this empha- 
sizes the necessity of prepar- 
ing a seed-bed adapted to the 
wants of the plant to be 
grown, and of maintaining 
such soil conditions as are 
best suited to the wants of 
the plant during its entire 
period of growth. 

253a. "Care should be 
exercised not to sow very 
small and slow-germinating 
seeds, as celery, carrot, 
onion, in poorly prepared 
soil or in land which oakes. 
With such seeds it is well 
to sow seeds of radish or turnip, for these germinate quickly 
and break the crust, and also mark the row, so that tillage may 
be begun before the regular-crop seeds are up." — Bailey, Gar- 
den-Making, p. 37. 

255a. The expense of preparing the land can often be ma- 
terially diminished if the land is plowed some little time before it 
is planted, in such a way that the elements can act upon the soil 
through the process of weathering. In such cases, the furrow- 




Fig. 63. The result of shallow plantine;. 



158 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

slice is not laid flat, but left at an angle of about forty-five 
degrees, that the soil may become warmed for the purpose of 
promoting chemical action and the liberation of plant-food. It 
may also serve to hasten the drying of the land (95). 

255b. Summer-fallowing is often an advisable means of pre- 
paring the seed-bed. It consists of two or more summer plow- 
ings and several harrowings, the land remaining idle. Fallowed 
lands are usually sown to wheat in the fall. An ideal seed-bed 
can be secured by this means. Fallowing is to be advised when 
lands are very stony, stumpy, hard, or when they have become 
foul with bad weeds, or have been injured by plowing or ditching 
when too wet. It is a means of putting the land right. The 
better the condition of the land, — that is, the better the farming, 
— the less the necessity of summer-fallowing. The practice is 
becoming less common, largely because modern implements and 
methods enable us to handle the land better. 

258a. The pictures will make this reasoning plain. Fig. 60 
represents a wheat plant in the fall, on properly handled land. 
The roots are near the surface. Fig. 61 shows how the roots 
strike deep when manure is plowed under and the soil is left 
loose ; and this plant stands less chances of success than the 
other. 

263a. The accompanying figures, which are made directly 
from nature, illustrate the point that drep planting in well-pre- 
pared land tends to result in a deep and spreading hill of potatoes 
(Fig. 62), whereas shallow planting in poorly prepared land results 
in a shallow and crowded hill (Fig. 63). The better potatoes may 
be expected in the forrner case. 



Chapter XI 

SUBSEQUENT CARE OF THE PLANT 

1. By Means of Tillage 
la. In general 

265. Tillage is the first consideration in the 
care of the plant. This is emphatically true in 
the field; but in the glass-house tillage is reduced 
to a minimum, in part because the preparation of 
the soil is so thorough. 

266. The objects of tillage, in the care of the 
plant subsequent to seeding or planting, are 
three : {a) to supply plant-food, by rendering 
the soil constituents available ; (b) to supply 
moisture ; (c) to destroy weeds. The first two 
captions have been discussed in Chapters ii., 
iii., iv. 

267. (c) Weeds are only incidental difficul- 
ties. They are the results of faulty management 
of the land. If the first attention is given to the 
crops and the land, the question of weeds will 
largely take care of itself. It is less important 
to know the kinds of weeds than it is to know 
how to till and to crop the land. 

(159) 



160 THE PKlNClPbKS OF AUKlCL'iyi'UttE 

268. There are four general means of keeping 
weeds in check : (a) by good tillage (101, 101a) ; 
(b) by rotation of crops, by means of which any 
one kind of weed is prevented from becoming 
thoroughly established ; (c) by complete occupa- 
tion of the land with crops, — for weeds find op- 
]iortunity when the ground is not fully occupied, 
as in old and thin meadows ; {d) by killing the 
weeds directly. 

'269. Surface tillage should be given as often 
as the ground becomes hard, or whenever the 
earth-mulch needs repairing (100). Under gen- 
eral conditions, tilled crops, as maize and pota- 
toes, should be cultivated every ten days or two 
weeks, particularly early in the season. As soon 
as low crops cover the ground, and thereby afford 
a mulch, cultivation may cease. 

270. Sowed crops can often be tilled once or 
twice to advantage very early in the season, by 
running a fine-toothed harrow over them. Thus, 
wheat and maize are now often harrowed in early 
spring. The harrowing destroys but few plants, 
while it loosens the soil, and conserves moisture 
before much has been lost by hot weather. Har- 
rowing meadows and pastures causes the plants 
to tiller or to stool out, and thereby to cover 
the ground more completely ; it also breaks the 
old, hard roots and causes new feeders to appear, 
thereby re -invigorating the plants. 



SUBSEQUENT CAKE OF THE PLANT 101 

l/>. In fniit plantations 

271. Tillage gives the same results in fruit 
plantations as with annual crops, and it also has 
particular advantages in such cases : it causes 
the roots of the trees or bushes to strike deep 
into the soil and thereby to find moisture in dry 
times, and it has a decided effect in keeping down 
the ravages of insects and the incursions of dis- 
eases by destroying breeding-places and burying 
diseased foliage and fruit. 

272. Since fruit trees and bushes send their 
roots so deep into the soil, they are better able 
to withstand neglect of tillage than annual crops 
are. There has thus arisen a general belief that 
orchards do best in sod ; but in most cases of 
successful sod orchards the trees thrive in spite 
of the sod, not because of it. 

273. It is particularly important to till fruit 
plantations early in their life. Apples should 
generally be tilled for at least the first ten years. 
The plants thereby get a good start and come 
into bearing early ; and the habit acquired in the 
first years is apt to continue. The treatment 
given in the early period usually determines the 
success of the fruit plantation. 

274. The fruit plantation may need tillage 
throughout all the years of its existence, and, as 
a matter of fact, it usually does need it. But if 

K 



162 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

the trees or bushes tend to grow too fast, so that 
they do not bear, or become top-heavy, or do not 
stand the winter, they may be checked by put- 
ting the plantation in sod ; but even then, the 
sod is only a temporary expedient. If the man- 
agement of the plantation has been right, it is 
doubtful if sod can ever be an advantage, — or at 
least with none of the common fruits, except 
possibly apples and pears. 

275. All fruit plants start into growth very 
early in the season. Therefore, tillage should be 
begun the moment the ground is fit r. and it 
should be continued unremittingly until the time 
arrives for all tillage to cease. 

276. The growth on fruit plants generally 
ceases by midsummer. Therefore, tillage may 
stop at midseason or early fall ; and at the last 
tillage a cover-crop may be sown (109, 114, 116). 
Stopping the tillage early allows the plants to 
mature their gro\, tli, and thereby be more likely 
to escape winter injury ; and it lessens the dan- 
ger of overgrowth. If the trees are carrying a 
heavy crop, however, it may be necessary to 
continue the tillage in order to supply the fruit 
with moisture, especially if the land or the 
season is dry. 

277. The tillage of fruit-plantations usually 
consists of a spring plowing, followed by har- 
rowing. If the land has been well handled in 



SUBSEQUENT CARE OF THE PLANT 163 

the first few years, deep and heavy plowing will 
not be needed when an orchard comes to ma- 
turity. Light gang-plows, or even cultivators, 
may then be sufficient for the first breaking of 
the soil in spring. 

2. By Means of Pruning and Training 
2a. Pruning vs. training 

278. Pruning is the removing of certain parts 
of plants for the purpose of augmenting the 
welfare of the plant or to secure more, larger 
or better products (as better fruit or flowers). 
Training is the trimming or shaping of the plant 
into some particular or desired form. Success- 
ful pruning depends upon piinciples of plant 
growth ; training depends upon the personal 
ideal of the pruner. 

279. Nature prunes. In every plant, more 
branches start than can ever mature ; and many 
buds are suppressed before they have made 
branches. Every tree top, if left to itself, will 
sooner or later contain many dead branches. 
There is a struggle for existence amongst the 
branches, and the weakest die. 

26. TJie healing of wounds 

280. Pruning depends upon two sets of fac- 
tors, — upon the questions concerned in the heal- 



I(i4 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

ing of wounds and the injury to the plant, and 
upon the general results which it is desired to 
attain. Knowing how wounds affect the plant, 
the pruner should then have a definite purpose 
in view when he cuts a limb. 

281. The proper healing of wounds depends 
primarily upon (a) the kind of plant (observe 
that peach trees heal less readily than apples), 
(b) the vigor of the plant, (c) the position of the 
wound on the plant (wounds on strong main 
limbs heal better than those on weak or side 
limbs), (d) the length of the stump — the shorter 
the stump the quicker the healing, — (e) the 
character of the wound as to smoothness or 
roughness. 

282. Other matters which determine the 
proper healing of a large wound are (/) the 
healthfalness of the wood, {g) the season of the 
year in which the cut is made, (//) the protec- 
tion which the wound receives. 

283. (g) Other things being the same, wounds 
heal quicker when made in the early part of the 
growing season, — that is, in late spring ; but the 
factors mentioned in 281 are more important 
than the season. 

284. (Ji) Dressings do not, of themselves, 
hasten the healing of wounds, but they may 
keep the wound sound and healthy until it heals 
of itself. A good dressing is one which is anti- 



SUBSEQUENT CARE UE THE PLANT 165 

septic and durable, which affords meclianical 
protection, and which does not of itself injure 
the tissue of the plant. 

2c The principles of pruning 

28"). We prune (a) to modify the vig'or of the 
plant, {h) to produce larger and hettei' fruits or 
flowers, {(■) to keep the plant within manage- 
able shape and limits, [d) to make the plant 
bear more or bear less, (e) to remove super- 
fluous or injured parts, (/') to facilitate spray- 
ing and harvesting, (ry) to facilitate tillage, 
(h) to make the plant assume some desired form 
(properly, training) . 

286. Heavy pruning of the top tends to 
increase growth, or the production of wood. 
Heavy pruning of the root tends to lessen the 
production of wood. Water- sprouts generally 
follow heavy pruning, particularly if the pruning 
is performed in winter. 

287. Checking growth, so long as the plant 
remains healthy, tends to cause overgrown plants 
to bear. One means of checking growth is to 
withhold fertilizers and tillage ; another is to 
resort to root -pruning ; another is to head -in or 
cut- back the young shoots. Some plants, how- 
ever, bear most profusely when they are very 
vigorous ; but they are such, for the most part, 
as have been moderately and continuously vig- 



166 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

orous from the beginning, rather thaji those 
which are forced into very heavy growth after a 
long period of neglect. 

288. The heading-in of young growths tends 
to force out the side shoots and to develop the 
dormant buds. The more a plant is headed- in, 
therefore, the more thinning -out it will require. 
Heading-in induces fruitfulness by checking 
growth and by encouraging the formation of 
side spurs (upon which fruit may be borne). 

289. Heavy pruning every few years — which 
is the custom — tends to keep trees over-vigorous 
and unproductive. Mild pruning every year 
maintains the equilibrium of the plant, and tends 
to make it fruitful. 

3. By Keeping Enemies in Check 
3a. The kinds of enemies 

290. Of plant enemies or diseases, there are 
three main types, — insects, parasitic fungi, con- 
stitutional or physiological troubles. 

291. Insect pests are of two general types, so 
far as their method of feeding is concerned, — 
insects which chew, or bite off pieces of the plant, 
and those which suck their food from the juices 
of the plant. In the former class are the worms 
and beetles ; in the latter are plant -lice, scale 
insects, and the so-called true bugs (as the 



SUBSEQUENT CARE OF THE PLANT 167 

squash-bug or stink-bug, and the leaf-hoppers). 
"We may classify injurious insects again, without 
reference to their mode of taking food, into 
those which live and feed on the outside of the 
plant, and those which, as borers and apple- 
worms, burrow and feed inside the tissue. 

292. Of fungous pests, the farmer may recog- 
nize two groups, — those which live wholly on the 
outside of the host (as the powdery mildew of 
the gi'ape, pea mildew), and those which live 
wholly or in part inside the tissues (as apple- 
scab, black-knot, potato mildew). Most inju- 
rious fungi are of the latter kind. Fungous 
troubles are nearly always marked by definitely 
diseased spots on the leaves or twigs. 

293. Physiological or constitutional troubles 
are those which affect the whole plant or an 
entire leaf or branch, and the cause of which is 
not apparent on the exterior. These troubles 
may be due to germs or bacteria working within 
the tissues (as pear- blight), or to some difficulty 
in the nutrition of the plant. These troubles 
are generally not marked by definitely diseased 
spots or blemishes, but by the gradual dying of 
an entire leaf, branch or plant. 

36. The preventives and remedies 

294. Keeping the plants vigorous and healthy 
is the first step towards the control of pests and 



168 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

diseases. Clean tillage, rotation of crops, plant- 
ing varieties which are least liable to attack, and 
careful attention to prevent all the conditions 
which seem to favor the breeding of insects and 
the spread of diseases, are quite as important as 
destroying the enemies ; for "an ounce of pre- 
vention is worth a pound of cure." 

295. Insects are destroyed by three general 
means : («) by killing them directly, as by hand- 
picking, digging out borers ; (6) by killing them 
by means of some caustic application to their 
bodies ; (c) by poisoning them by poisoning 
their food. In some instances, insects may be 
kept away by covering the plants with some 
material, as lime, to which the insects object ; 
but this method of fighting insects is usually 
unsatisfactory. A substance which is used to 
destroy an insect is called an insecticide. 

296. (6) The caustic applications or insecti- 
cides must be used for those insects which suck 
their food (291). Kerosene, kerosene emulsion, 
soap washes, lime-and-sulfur, miscible oils, to- 
bacco, and the like, are the materials used; and 
plant-lice, scale insects, plant-bugs, thrips, and 
leaf-hoppers are the insects thus treated. 

297. (c) The poisonous applications are used 
for the chewing insects that prey upon the 
outside of the plant (not for borers, which are 
usually dug out) . Paris green and other arsenicals 



SUBSEQUENT CARE OF THE PLANT 169 

and white hellebore are the materials commonly 
used ; and worms, potato -bugs, and all leaf- 
chewing pests, are the insects thus treated. 

298. Fungi are killed bj' materials which con- 
tain sulfur or copper. Fungi which live inside 
the leaf or stem (292) cannot be killed directly 
by applications, but the parts which project into 
the air (the fruiting portions) can be destroyed 
and the fungus thereby weakened and checked ; 
and the spores (which answer to seeds) cannot 
grow on a surface which is covered with coppei' 
or sulfur. The best treatment of plant diseases, 
therefore, is to make the application before the 
disease gains a foothold. A substance which is 
used to destroy fungi is called a fungicide. 

299. The best general fungicide is the Bor- 
deaux mixture, made of lime and sulfate of 
copper. It not only destroys the fungi, but 
adheres long to the plant. Another good fungi- 
cide is carbonate of copper ; and it is preferred 
for ornamental plants and for late application to 
fruit, because it does not discolor or soil the 
leaves or fruits. 

300. The application of insecticides and fun- 
gicides is usually made in water, with a syringe 
or pump, or by means of a spray ; and thereby 
h^s arisen the practice of spraying. 

301. In order that spraying shall be success- 
ful, it must (a) apply the materials which will 



17G THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

destroy the pest in question and yet not injure 
the plant, (h) be thoroughly done, so that no 
part of the plant is left unprotected, (c) be 
performed the moment the enemy appears, or, in 
the case of fungous diseases, as soon as there is 
reason to believe that the pest is coming. 

302. The best machine or pump is the one 
which throws the finest spray the farthest dis- 
tance. Other factors are the capacity of the 
pump, its strength, its durability, its lightness, 
the ease with which it works. 

303. Spraying will not keep all fungous dis- 
eases in check ; and, in any case, it should be 
supplemented by sanitation, as by burning or 
burying the fallen diseased leaves and fruits, the 
cutting away of infected parts, and the like. 
Some fungous diseases, as the grain smuts, are 
carried over from year to year in the seed ; and 
the proper treatment is to soak the seed in a 
fungicide. The constitutional diseases (293) 
must be treated by other means than spraying, 
usually by burning the affected part or plant 
(294, 294a). 

SUGGESTIONS ON CHAPTER XI 

267a. "The daisy-cursed meadows of the East are those 
which have been long mown and are badly 'run,' or else those 
which were not properly made, and the grass obtained but a 
-poor start. The farmer may say that the daisies have 'run out' 



SUBSEQXJENT CARE OF THE PLANT 



171 



the grass, but the fact is that the meadow began to fail, and the 
daisies quickly seized upon the opportunity to gain a foot- 
hold. * * * The weedy lawns are those which have a 
thin turf, and the best treatment is to scratch the ground 
lightly with an iron-toothed rake, apply fertilizer, and sow more 
seed." "The agricultural conditions in the Dakotas and other 
parts of our Plains region are just such as to encourage a hardy 
intruder like the Russian thistle. An average of eight or nine 
bushels of wheat per acre is itself proof of superficial farming; 




Fig. 64. A gang-plow. 



Pig. 65. A light gang-plow 
for very shallow work. 



but the chief fault with this western agriculture is the continu- 
ous cropping with one crop, — wheat." — Bailey , ^^ Survival of the 
Unlike," pp. 196, 195. 

270a. Maize may be harrowed until it is four inches high. 
The plants will straighten up. This harrowing is cheaper than 
cultivating; and if the land is put in good condition very early 
in the life of the crop, much less subsequent tillage is required. 
In general, narrow-toothed harrows should be used (Fig. 24), 
but the style of tool must be adapted to the particular land in 
question. 

277a. If the plowing has been thorough for the first few 
years after the orchard is planted, the ground should be so 
mellow that very light plowing will answer thereafter. There 
will be no sod to tear up and to plow under, and the tree roots 
will be deep in the ground, where they can find moisture. A 
gang-plow (Fig. 64) should be sufficient for the spring plowing 



172 



THE PKINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 



in most mature orchards, unless there is a heavy growth of 
cover-crop to plow under. A tool for still shallower plowing is 
shown in Fig, 65. This is excellent for orchards on light oi 
loose soils, although its height makes it more difficult to handle 



'Cf'' ' ' ^^^ 





Fig. 66. The proper way to 
make the wound. 



Pig. 67. The wrong way to 
make the cut. 



about low-headed trees. For full discussions of the tilling of 
fruit plantations, see "Principles of Fruit -Growing," Chapter iii. 
278ft. If some of the limbs are taken from an apple tree for 
the purpose of making it bear better, the operation is pruning ; 
if the tree is sheared or trimmed to make it round-headed, the 
operation is training. A rose or a grape-vine may be pruned 
by cutting away part of the wood ; it may be trained on wires 
or to the side of a house. 



SUBSEQUENT CARE OF THE PLANT 



173 




279(/. On the subject of the struggle for existence in the 
tree top, consult, Observation iv. in "Lessons with Plants," and 
Chapter i. in "Pruning-Book." The philosophical bearings of 
this fact of competition are presented 
in Essay iii., "Survival of the Unlike." 

28la. Other things being equal, the 
closer the wound to the branch, the 
quicker it will heal. The smoother the 
wound, the better and quicker it will 
heal. Figs. 66 and 67 illustrate right y, 
and wrong methods. For full dis- % 
cussion of the healing of wounds, read 
Chapter iii. in the "Pruning-Book." 

284rt. An antiseptic dressing is one 
which prevents germs or microbes from 
growing on the surface of the wound ; 
for the decay which follows wounds is 
the work of germs and fungi. In gen- 
eral, the best dressing for wounds is 
lead paint. Wax is not durable enough, 
nor is it antiseptic. Bordeaux mixture 
is good for its antiseptic properties, but is not durable, and it 
affords little protection from the weather. 

285a. The pi-inciples of pruning are discussed under twenty 
heads in Chapter iv. of "Pruning-Book." 

291«. The chewing or biting insects eat up the parts upon 
which they prey. Fig. 68 is an example of such work. The 
sucking insects do not eat up the part, but they often leave dis- 
tinct marks of their work, as in Fig. 69. A plant-bug is shown 
in Fig. 70. The true weevils and curculios are biting insects, 
although they have snouts (Fig. 71). 

292a. A fungus is a plant. It is destitute of chlorophyll or 
leaf-green. It lives on living organisms (or is parasitic), or on 
dead or decaying matter (or is saprophytic, as mushrooms and 
toadstools) . Some kinds, as toadstools, are large and con- 
spicuous ; others, as molds, are small and fragile ; while still 
others are nearly or quite mieroscoi)ic. Tlie plural of fungus is 



Fig. 68, Work of the bud-motli 
larva,— a chewing insect. 



174 



THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 



fangi (rarely written funguses), As an adjective, the word is 
written fungous, as a fungous disease. A fungoid disease is a 
fungus -like disease, the exact origin of which may not be known 
or specified. Busts, mildews and leaf-blights are types of fun- 
gous diseases. 

2926. The plant or the animal upon or in which a parasitic 
fungus lives is known as its host. The fungus injures its host by 




Fig. 69. Work ot the four-lined leaf-bug— a sucking insect — on currant 
foliage. 

robbing it of nutriment and sometimes by breaking up its cellular 
structure, and by obstructing the breathing-pores and interfering 
with the movement of its fluids. 

293fc. Physiological troubles may be termed internal troubles, 
although the germs which cause some of them enter from th« 




SUBSEQUENT CARE OF THE PLANT 175 

outside. There is no external growth of a fungus, and rarely any 
well defined small spots on the leaves. Fig. 72 shows the spots of 
a fungous disease ; if this leaf had been attacked by a bacterial 
or physiological disease, the entire leaf would probably have 
shown signs of failing, for the food supply is usually cut off in 
the leaf-stalk or the main veins. In Fig. 72, however, each spot 
represents a distinct attack of the fungus. 
Fig. 73 is a type of physiologial trouble, the 
edge of the leaf dying from the cutting-off of 
its food supply ; this dead border will widen 
until the leaf dies. 

294a. Physicians treat some diseases by 
prophylaxis, — that is, by giving attention to 
means of sanitation and of preventing the 
spread of the disorder. Farmers must do the 
same. Wire-worms are rarely troublesome Fig. 70. The tarnished 
in short and quick rotations, particularly in plant-bug, -a sucking 

illS6Ct 

those in which sod is not a prominent fea- 
ture. Club-root of the cabbage is rarely 
troublesome on land which has not grown tat 
cabbages or allied plants for a few years. 
Apple-scab is least serious in those orchards Fig. 71. The strawberry 
which have been thoroughly sprayed in pre- weevil, — a chewing 
vious years. Plum-rot is least troublesome insect, 
when the fruit is well thinned. Rose-bugs seldom trouble vine- 
yards which are on strong or heavy lands. 

296a. Kerosene emulsion may be made as follows: Hard, 
soft or whale-oil soap, ^4 lb. ; water, 1 gal. ; kerosene, 2 gals. 
Dissolve the soap in hot water; remove from the fire and while 
still hot add the kerosene. Pump the liquid back into itself 
for five or ten minutes or until it becomes a creamy mass. If 
properly made, the oil will not separate out on cooling. For use 
on dormant trees, dilute with from 5 to 7 parts of water. For 
killing plant-lice on foliage, dilute, with 10 to 15 parts water. 

Crude oil emulsion is made in the same way by substituting 
crude oil in place of kerosene. 



176 



THE pkix('iplp:s of agriculture 



297a. The Paris green mixture is compounded by using Paris 
green 1 pound, water 150 to 300 gallons. If this mixture is to 
be used upon fruit trees, 1 pound of quicklime should be added. 
Repeated applications will injure most foliage, unless the lime is 
used. Paris green may be added to Bordeaux mixture. 

297b. Arsenate of lead is now much used for chewing insects. 
This can be applied in a stronger mixture than other arsenical 




Fig. 72. Tlie spots of hollyhock rust,— a fungous disease. 



poisons without injuring the foliage. It is, therefore, much used 
against beetles and other insects that are hard to poison. It comes 
in the form of a paste and should be mixed thoroughly with a small 
amount of water before placing in the sprayer, else the nozzle 
will clog. It is used in strengths varying from 4 to 10 lbs. per 
100 gallons, depending on the kind of insect to be killed. 
Arsenate of lead and Bordeaux mixture can be combined without 
lessening the value of either. 

297c. The lime -and -sulfur wash, for scale insects, is now 



SUBSEQUENT CARE OF THE PLANT 



17; 



much used: Quicklime, 20 lbs.; sulfur (flour or flowers), 15 lbs.; 
water, 50 gals. Place the lime in a kettle. Add hot water grad- 
ually in sufficient quantity to produce the most rapid slaking 
of the lime. When the lime begins to slake, add the sulfur and 
stir together. If convenient, 
keep the mixture covered 
with burlap to save the heat. 
After slaking has ceased, 
add more water and boil the^ 
mixture one hour. As the 
sulfur goes into solution, a 
rich orange-red or dark green 
color will appear. After boil- 
ing sufficiently, add water to 
the required amount and 
strain into the spray tank. 
The wash is most effective 
when applied warm. This 
mixture can be applied safely 
only when the trees are dor- 
mant, — late in the autumn 
after the leaves have fallen,, 
or early in the spring before Fig. 73. Disease of cucumber leaf, the dying 
the buds swell. margin indicating that the trouble is due 

299«. Bordeaux mixture to some cutting-oflf of the food supply, 
is the standard fungicide. It is made of copper sulfate, 5 lbs. ; 
stone lime or quicklime (unslaked), 5 lbs.; water, 50 gals. The 
strength varies according to the plant to be sprayed. Bordeaux 
maybe prepared in the following way: 

Copper sulfate. — Dissolve the required amount of copper sul- 
fate in water in the proportion of one pound to one gallon several 
hours before the solution is needed; suspend the copper sulfate 
crystals in a sack near the top of the water. In ease large quan- 
tites of stock solution are needed, two pounds of copper sulfate 
maybe dissolved in one gallon of water. Lime. — Slake the lime 
in a tub or trough. Add the water slowly at first, so that the lime 
crumbles into a fine powder. If small quantities of lime are used, 




178 THE PKINCIPLES OF AGKIOULTURE 

hot water is preferred When completely slaked, or entirely- 
powdered, add more water. When the lime has slaked sufficiently, 
add water to bring it to a thick milk, or to a cei'tain number of 
gallons. The amount required for each tank of spray mixture can 
be secured approximately from this stock mixture, which should 
not be allowed to dry out. To 7)iake Bordeaux. — Use 5 gallons of 
stock solution of copper sulfate for every fifty gallons of Bordeaux 
required. Pour this into the tank. Add water until the tank is 
about two-thirds full. From the stock lime mixture take the re- 
quired amount. Dilute this a little by adding water, and strain 
into the tank. Stir the mixture, and add water to make the re- 
quired amount. It is preferable to dilute the copper sulfate solu- 
tion. Never pour together the strong stock mixtures and dilute 
afterward. The ferrocyanide test. — It is not necessary to weigh the 
lime in making Bordeaux, for a test can be used to determine 
when enough of a stock lime mixtui-e has been added. Dissolve an 
ounce of yellow prussiate of potash in a pint of water. Add the 
lime mixture to the diluted copper sulfate solution until the ferro- 
cyanide solution will not tui-n brown when dropped from the bottle 
into the mixture. It is best to add an excess of lime. 

299&. Copper carbonate is used as follows: Copper carbo- 
nate, 1 ounce; ammonia, enough to dissolve the copper; water, 
9 gallons. Before making the solution, make a paste of the 
copper earbonat'^ by mixing it with a little water. Use 26° am- 
monia, and dilute with 7 to 8 volumes of water. Then gradually 
add the necessary amount to the copper carbonate until all is 
dissolved. Use only the clear liquid. Dilute as required. For 
same purposes as Bordeaux, but does not soil foliage or fruit. 

303a. Smut-infested seeds are treated by corrosive sublimate, 
formalin, copper sulfate, hot water, and other means. For the 
first, use corrosive sublimate, 1, oz. ; water, 7 gals. It is an effec- 
tive solution for potato scab. Soak seed potatoes 1/4 hours. 

Formalin is a gas dissolved in water. Commercially, it has a 
strength of about forty per cent. One pint dissolved in thirty 
gallons of water is used effectively in preventing potato scab 
(soak tubers for half an hour, and plant in clean soil), or smut of 
oats and stinking smut of wheat (soak seed in solution for ten 
minutes, drain and sow the next day). 



Chapter XII 
PASTURES, MEADOWS, AND FORAGE 



/. p. ROBERTA 



1. Grass 



304. The fundamental crop is grass. It 
covers the land as with a blanket, prepares the 
soil for other crops, and affords sustenance for 
farm animals. 

305. Grass is one of the important crops in 
rotations ; and a rotation is essential to general 
husbandry if productiveness of the land is main- 
tained. Rotations improve the farm («) because 

•the land receives different treatments in different 
years, so that faults of one year may be cor- 
rected the following year, (&) no one element of 
plant -food is likely to be exhausted, (r) one 
crop leaves the land in best condition for 
another, {d) roots and stubble of gi*ass, clover 
and cereals improve the texture of the soil, 
(e) they allow the use of clovers, which add 
nitrogen, and (/) bring up food from the sub- 
soil (170, 170<^), {g) weeds and pests are kept 
in check, {h) labor is economized. 

U79) 



180 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

306. The number of plants of grass on a 
given area should be governed by the uses for 
which they are grown, their habits of growtli 
and their size. The smaller grasses thrive well 
if the plants stand near together. The larger 
grasses, as maize, should have much room 
between the plants or hills. The plants in a 
pasture field should be more numerous than in 
the meadow, and more numerous in the meadow 
than in fields devoted to raising grass seed. 

2. Permanent Pastures 
2a. Preparation of the land 

307. When the land is fairly level and can be 
fitted without too much expense, it is best to 
plow the ground two or three times during the 
summer, the first time in early spring, and to 
keep the surface fine and clean by frequent 
tillage. This treatment improves the physical 
condition of the soil, destroys weeds and weed 
seeds, makes much dormant plant- food availa- 
ble, and conserves moisture so that the surface 
soil, in most cases, will be damp enough to cause 
seeds to germinate even in August. 

308. On friable soils, as on the western 
prairies and in some other places, a single plow- 
ing and frequent shallow surface tillage may be 



PASTURES, MEADOWS, AND FORAGE 18] 

the best treatment. On reclaimed boggy lands 
which have been cultivated long enough to 
eradicate wild plants, the soil is so light that 
plowing may be unnecessary. Here a little 
scarifying of the surface and frequent use of the 
roller will likely give best results. 

309. A good pasture may also be secured by 
less expensive preparation, if more time is taken. 
When rolling land has been devoted to the pro- 
duction of cereals and hay until the soil fails to 
produce satisfactory crops, it is often wise to 
abandon the unprofitable rotation and to devote 
the laud to permanent pasturage ; but few per- 
sons are willing to spend as much time and 
money as will be necessary to secure a good 
pasture at once. In that case, sow a liberal 
quantity of pasture seeds in a crop of thinly 
seeded wheat, rye, barley or buckwheat, the land 
having been fitted for the cereals with extra 
care, and plant -food added by a liberal applica- 
tion of fertilizers or manure. 

310. Since the pasture is not to be plowed 
after it is once seeded, it is necessary to prepare 
the entire soil so perfectly that it will form a 
comfortable home and provide nourishment for 
the plants for many years. If the land is poor, 
fertility should be applied. But prepare the 
land as best we may, it will not be many years 
before much of the readily available plant-food 



182 THK PKINC1FLK8 OF AGRICULTURE 

will have been used by the plants, and some of 
the products of the animals which consume the 
grass will never be returned to the pasture; hence, 
the pasture will tend to become less productive as 
the years pass. And, as the plants become old, 
they are less vigorous than young ones, not only 
because of age, but from frequent injuries from 
the animals. It is, therefore, necessary to main- 
tain the pasture, as well as to prepare it in the 
beginning. 

2b. Maintaining the pasture 

311. The grass should be of the right kind. 
In the North, June -grass or blue -grass is the 
most permanent pasture grass, and it is the one 
which gradually works into pastures after other 
grasses begin to fail. Timothy is commonly sown, 
about six quarts to the acre. A little June-grass 
seed may be added, but this grass may usually 
be depended upon to come in of itself. Orchard- 
grass is useful in shady pastures and stands graz- 
ing well, but grows too much in stools. Red-top 
is useful in the moister lands. In the South, 
Bermuda grass and Japan clover are best. 

312. After the pasture has been secured, the 
grasses must be maintained for many years in 
full vigor. It is pre-supposed that the clovers 
have been used to a limited extent in the grass- 
s«ed mixtures when the pasture was first made, 



PASTURES, MEADOWS, AND FORAGE 183 

since the clovers are host plants to the grasses. 
They start early and protect the later -growing 
grasses. Most of tlie clovers live but from one 
to three years. The clovers, in common with 
other legumes, contain a large percentage of 
potential nitrogen (110, 138, 190). The pasture 
grasses are much benefited by a full supply of 
nitrogen, but they can secure little, if any, from 
the air, and hence must supply their needs as 
best they can from that found in the soil. It 
will then be understood how eagerly the hungry 
grasses feed on the decaying short-lived clovers. 
It will also be understood why clovers are called 
host plants. 

313. The short-lived host plants may be per- 
petuated, and the grasses kept young and vig- 
orous, by sowing seeds of the clovers and 
grasses every two or three years in earlj'' spring, 
and scarifying the surface with a sharp-toothed 
harrow, this to be followed by the roller. The 
harrowing will not only tear out some of the 
superannuated grass roots (270) and old plants 
and cover the seeds, but it will tend to aerate the 
surface soil and to promote bacterial activity. 
From time to time, a light dressing of fai-m 
manures or of commercial fertilizers should be 
applied, spread evenly, in the fall. 

314. An inspection of the field should be 
made each spring, in order that seed may be 



184 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

sown where not enough plants are present, and 
also to discover what kinds of plants are most 
promising, so that the supplementary seeds may 
be chosen to best suit the conditions. Coax the 
grass to grow by shading the imperfectly cov- 
ered knolls with refuse material, such as is 
always found about a farmstead. Even a light 
covering of brush or maize stalks may be used 
to partly shade the ground, and to conserve 
moisture. If a small ration of grain be fed the 
animals which graze the pasture, the field will 
tend to become more productive instead of less 
productive. 

315. It will require several years of watchful 
care, new seed, possibly harrowing and rolling, 
some added plant- food and a light dressing of 
lime, and the timely destruction of large, un- 
palatable weeds, to secure a really good, perma- 
nent pasture. The eye of the husbandman 
makes the gi*ass thrive. 

316. In the pastures the grass is kept short ; 
therefore the entire surface should be covered. 
If areas of even a few square inches are bare, 
needless evaporation takes place. If the grasses 
are kept too short, the rays of the sun will take 
up much soil moisture which should have been 
taken up by the plants, since the soil will not 
be well shaded. If the plants are allowed to 
grow tall and produce seed, then they are 



PASTURES, MEADOWS, AND FORAGE 185 

weakened. To prevent the tall growth, mow the 
pasture, if there are not enough animals to pre- 
vent the grass from seeding, and leave the cut 
material to shade the soil. Aim to preserve 
the living grass shade intact. Substitute young 
plants for the old ones. Prevent the soil from 
becoming acid by light applications of lime and 
by harrowing it. And, so far as possible, ex- 
ercise timely care to prevent the plants from be- 
coming hungry and thirsty. 

317. Here, then, in a nut- shell, are the ele- 
ments of a good, permanent pasture : superior 
preparation of soil, suitable and abundant seeds 
sown in August, and light pasturing the first 
season, or, better, mowing the first year ; and 
appropriate seeds and plant -food must be added 
from time to time, as required. 



.3. Meadows 

3rt. Temporary meadows 

318. In grain-growing districts, the meadow 
may occupy from one to three years in a rota- 
tion. In dairy districts, meadows are often per- 
manent. The average yield of hay in the North 
is little more than one ton per acre, although 
some meadows yield from two to three tons, 
and, in rare cases, four tons. The average 



186 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

yield is unprofitable, either in a rotation or in 
a permanent meadow. As a crop in the rota- 
tion, the meadow may improve the soil for 
subsequent crops. 

319. The larger yields are usually secured 
from vigorous young meadows which contain 
three or four parts of timothy and one part of 
mixed clovers. If clover be associated with 
timothy in approximately these proportions, 
nearly as much timothy will be secured as if 
it were sown alone, and the clover, or host 
plants, will be extra. True, the clovers mature 
more quickly than the timothy, and this is 
somewhat objectionable ; therefore, the clover 
mixture may be composed largely of alsike clo- 
ver, which remains green longer and cures lighter 
colored than the medium red clover does. 

320. The meadow must be viewed from many 
standpoints. For the city market, unmixed hay 
sells for more than the mixed, though the latter 
may be better and more palatable. The uses to 
which the hay is destined must be considered, 
since horses should not be fed much clover, 
while sheep and cattle should not be fed hay 
composed wholly of timothy and similar grasses. 
But the meadow remains productive longest 
where the host plants are present. 

321. Whether it is best to leave the meadow 
for some years and preserve its productiveness 



PASTURES, MKADOWS, AM) FOKAGE 187 

by adding new seed, harrowing, and by the ap- 
plication of plant -food, or to mow it for one or 
two years and then plow and use the land for 
other crops, are questions which must be an- 
swered by the condition of the meadow and the 
character of the rotation. There is one inva- 
riable rule to be followed, — if the meadow fails to 
return two tons of field-dried hay to the acre, 
plow it up ; and when the old plants are sub- 
dued and the soil put in ideal condition, and 
when the causes which prevented full success with 
the old meadow are fully considered, cast in the 
new seed with understanding, trusting that fuller 
success will be reached. 

36. Permanent meadows 

322. With permanent meadows many new 
problems are presented. Many fields are of such 
a character as to preclude a rotation of crops. 
In such cases the problem is presented of con- 
tinued liberal production without plowing. Low 
lands, or those which are wholly or in part over- 
flowed for brief periods, constitute the larger 
part of our permanent meadows. These low 
lands are the home of many natural grasses 
which do not thrive on the uplands ; and some 
of the cultivated upland grasses and the clovers 
are not at their best when grown in wettish 
soils. 



188 THE 1>RINCIPLE8 OF AGRICULTUKE 

323. In lowland meadows, a battle royal, 
which is most interesting and instructive to 
watch, goes on from year to year. Most of the 
plants hold their places so tenaciously, and so 
many hardy new ones appear, that the plants 
soon become too numerous and then dwarf one 
another, in which case the production is di- 
minished. On these moist lands there is little 
difficulty in securing sufficient plants : the prob- 
lem is rather how to destroy some of them, that 
better conditions may be secured for those 
which remain. 

324. It has been shown (316) why the pas- 
tures should be fully covered with plants ; but 
permanent meadows should have fewer plants. 
If there are too many, the grasses will not grow 
to their full size, and many of the leaves on the 
lower half of the stalks will be yellowish, insipid, 
and lacking in aroma because they have not 
received enough sunlight. If there are too many 
roots in the soil, there will not be sufficient food 
for all except when the soil is extremely fertile 
and moist ; and few plants will come to normal 
maturity. The grasses which are grown too thick, 
and consequently have been excluded from a full 
supply of sunlight, are poor in quality, like the 
apples which grow in the shade on the lower 
branches. 

325. All this goes to show how necessary it 



PASTURES, MEADOWS, AND FORAGE 189 

may be to destroy some of the grasses in a per- 
manent meadow. By the vigorous use of a 
sharp-toothed harrow, much may be done to 
relieve the "hide -bound" and mossy condition, to 
destroy plants and to aerate the soil (270, 313) . 
A light dressing of lime will materially assist in 
liberating plant-food and in correcting soil 
acidity, as in pastures. 

3c. Kinds of grasses for meadows 

326. What kind and quantity of seed should 
be sown, is the question that is asked more 
frequently than any other, because it is most 
difficult to answer. In the grass districts of the 
United States, timothy or "herd's-grass " usually 
stands first. It is extremely hardy, long lived, is 
well adapted to grazing, and yet attains good 
size in the meadow, and when cut at the appro- 
priate time and not over-cured, it makes superior 
hay. The seeds are not expensive, and can 
usually be secured without admixture of weed 
seeds. Timothy, then, in most cases, may form 
the foundation. Six quarts per acre, more or 
less, will suffice when used alone, and it may be 
sown at any time from early spring until fail. 

327. We have seen (312, 319) that clover adds 
to the longevity and productiveness of the pas- 
ture or meadow. If the clovers are used, about 



190 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

the same amount or a little more seed is sown as 
of timothy, but the plants are likely to be winter- 
killed if sowing is made after August. 

328. There are various secondary and supple- 
mentary grasses, such as blue -grass, orchard- 
grass, red -top, and tall meadow fescue. Some 
or all of these may be used in limited quanti- 
ties. Seeds of all these weigh but fourteen 
pounds to the bushel, are usually sold in the 
chaff, are not likely to be pure, and are difficult 
to distribute evenly. In most places, quite as 
much blue -grass appears as a volunteer as is 
desirable, but, except in rare cases, it is not a 
profitable hay grass. Orchard -grass starts early, 
tends to grow in hummocks, does well in the 
shade and in close -grazed pastures, but is the 
worst of all grasses in the lawn, where only 
fine, recumbent grasses and white clovers are 
admissible. Red -top is a good pasture grass 
and lawn grass, and is well adapted to very wet 
meadows, although it does not make a first - 
class hay. Tall meadow fescue is one of the 
most promising recently introduced grasses for 
both meadow and pasture. In many places it 
has escaped from the fields into the roadsides, 
where it shows its superiority over blue-grass 
and even over timothy. Of these grasses, from 
one to two bushels of seed are required per acre. 
All do well when sown in early spring or in fall. 



PASTURES, MEADOWS, AND FOKAQE 191 

329. Other grasses, as sheep fescue, sweet 
vernal gi*ass, and similar dwarf grasses, are not 
to be recommended for general use in America. 
Other grasses are adapted to special localities, 
as barley and wild oats, which are extensively 
used in California for hay. There is a wealth 
of native grasses, but most of them give little 
promise for upland meadows. 



4. Other Forage Plants 

330. The plants already discussed, together 
with other coarser plants of the farm which are 
fed to domestic animals, are known collect- 
ively as forage plants ; although this term is 
commonlv applied to such plants as are not 
grown in permanent meadows or pastures. By 
recent common consent the term "roughage" has 
been substituted for them. Both terms are 
somewhat indefinite. The words usually imply 
somewhat unconcentrated, dried materials, to 
which some concentrated food must be added 
if ample growth, development and surplus pro- 
ducts, as milk, are secured. 

331. When forage plants are cut and fed 
green they are called soiling plants. There 
are several species of plants, as, for instance, 
the prickly comfrey, which, if fed green, may 



192 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

be used for soiling, but, if dried, are unpala- 
table. 

332. The production of forage and soiling 
crops is extremely simple. They may be inter- 
tilled or not. Large plants, which require abun- 
dant food and moisture and a full supply of 
sunlight, as maize, should be tilled ; but small 
and quickly maturing ones, as barley, may be 
raised without inter -tillage. 

333. The two great forage plants of the 
United States are maize and alfalfa. The latter 
is well suited to the semi -arid districts of the 
West, and thrives to an astonishing degree in the 
bright sunshine of the Plains, when supplied 
with moisture by irrigation. It is perennial, and 
several cuttings may be taken each season. It is 
one of the leguminous crops, and, therefore, 
appropriates nitrogen of the air. Like clover, it 
has a deep root- system. 

334. But the king of all grasses, the one most 
useful, most easily raised and harvested, and the 
most productive, is Indian corn, or maize. In a 
little more than one hundred days from planting, 
from four to six tons of air-dried stalks and from 
forty to fifty bushels of grain may be secured 
from each acre ; or from twelve to twenty tons of 
uncured material may be secured for the silo. 

335. Rye, though not a first-class forage or 
soiling plant, may be sown in the fall, cut when 



PASTURES, MEADOWS, AND FORAGE 193 

in head, and followed by a crop of Hungarian 
grass, which thrives in hot weather; and this in 
turn may be followed by oats and peas. There 
will not be time in the North for the oats and 
peas to mature, but they will remain green 
through November, and may furnish late fall 
pasture, or may be left on the ground to serve as 
a winter cover-crop (115). 

SUGGESTIONS OX CHAPTER XII 

304a. It is impracticable to treat of specific crops in a 
text-book. Grass and forage are so fundamental to the con- 
ception of agriculture, however, that it will be profitable to 
discuss them, particularly as the cultivation of them illustrates 
some of the underlying principles of cropping. For advice as 
to the handling of particular crops, the enquirer must go to 
books on the special topics. 

304?>. The true grasses constitute the natural family of 
plants known to botanists as the Gramineae or grass family ; 
and this family includes all the cereal grains, as wheat, maize, 
and rice. In its largest sense, therefore, the word grass in- 
cludes many plants which are not commonly recognized as 
grasses. 

304c. The term grass is popularly used to designate the 
medium sized and smaller members of the grass family, such 
as orchard -grass, timothy, and blue-grass, and not the larger 
grasses, as oats, sugar-cane, and bamboo. 

304rf. The clovers are sometimes erroneously called grasses ; 
and "a field of grass" may contain many kinds of plants. There 
are many kinds of clover. The common red clover is Trifoliuni 
pratense ; the medium red is T. medium ; the alsike is T. hyiri- 
dum, with rose-tinted flowers ; the white or creeping clover, 
or shamrock, is T. repens ; the crimson, used for cover-crops, is 

M 



194 



THK I'KINCIPLES OF AmtlCULTUBE 



T. incarnatum. With the exception of Trifolium repcnn, these are 
introduced from the Old World. The Japan clover, now much 
prized in the South, is really not a, clover, but belongs to a 
closely related genus. It is known to botanists as Lespedezn 





Fig. 74. A carex, or sedge. 



Pig. Tf). A couiiiioii setlgo, or carex, iu 
flower aiul wlieii ripe. 



Striata. It was introduced accidentally into South Carolina 
about 1849. 

304e. There are many kinds of grass-like plants. The 
greater part of these, at least in the North, belong to the 
closely related Sedge family. Sedges are easily distinguished 
by 3-ranked leaves and usually by 3-aiigled stems, with a 
pith ; and the flowers are very unlike grasses. The sedges 



PASTURES, MEADOWS, AND FORAGE 



195 



are generally worthless as forage plants, although some species 
in the West and South afford acceptable cattle ranges when 
grass is not to be had. Figs. 74 and 7n show 
common types of sedges, such as are frequent in 
swales. 

yOfia. Ill specialty-farming {4rt), abundance of 
l)l;int-foo(l jiiid humus material can be added to 
tlie sdil, and rotations may not bo needed ; but 
in general or mixed husbandry some kind of rota- 
tiou is essential. Kead Chapter xv., "Fertility of 
tlie Land." 

IK)")?*. Tlif kind ul' rotation must he determineil 
liy tlie soil and many other f Victors. A four-year 
rotation, in which an exacting crop follows a less 




Kit. 76. 
' Timotliy (Phleuin 
pratense) n}/^. 




Juue-graiis or blue-grniss 
(Poa pratetijiig) nJ-^. 





Fig. 78. Orchard grass (Dactylis 
glomerata) x%. 



Fig. 79. Tap-root of 
red clover. (Compare Fig. 33.) 



PASTURES, MEADOWS, AND FORAGE 



19? 



exacting one, and in which the clover root-borer is kept in 
check, is — 

Clover, one year ; 

Maize, with or without miaimre , 

Oats ; 

Wheat, with phosphates and manures. 

A good rotation for "fairly fertile, lightish lands," is — 

Clover, one year ; 

Potatoes; 

Wheat. 

A rotation for weed -infested land is — 

Sod ; 

Maize : 

Potatoes or some other inter-tilled crop ; 

Oats or barley. 

307rt. A permanent pasture is one which is to remain many 
years without plowing. Some pastures, particularly on rocky or 
rolling land, remain undisturbed for a generation and more. 
Bermuda grass and Japan clover make 
permanent pastures in many parts of the 
South, but most grasses do not make good 
sod there. In distinction to permanent 
pastures are the temporary pastures which 
are a part of a rotation, or the meadow 
which is pastured after the hay is cut. 

3Ha. The familiar Timothy is shown 
in Figs. 76 and 80. June-grass, with 
a flower in detail, is seen in Fig. 77. 
June-grass is a common grass along road- 
sides, ripening very early, and is the best 
grass for lawns. Orchard-grass is illus- 
trated by Fig. 78. 

312«. The word host is here used: 
in a different sense than by the botanist 
and entomologist {292b). Here it means 

a helper or companion, not a plant upon pj^ g^ shallow root-system 
which another plant or an insect preys. of timothy. 




PASTURES, MEADOWS, AND FORAGE 



199 



313a. Observe how different the roots of clover and timothy 
are (Figs. 79, 80). One feeds in the subsoil and subsurface 
soil, has many little organisms on its rootlets, which are called 
nitrogen-fixers (138); that is, they take the free nitrogen of 
the soil air, and it then becomes of use to the plant. 
The timothy has many small fibrous roots, which remain near 
the surface, and have no nitrogen-fixing organisms. It will be 





Pie. «-. Alfalfa or lucerne {Medicayo 
satiiKi) xyi. 



Pig. 8lj. A good bottle for 
seeds. 



seen how appropriate it is to raise these plants together : one 
feeds near the surface, the other down deep in the soil ; one 
is long lived, the other short lived. 

318a. In general farming, the most uniformly good crops 
are nearly always obtained when a rotation is used. Fig. 81 
is a field of wheat, in a rotation, which yielded over 30 bushels 
to the acre. 

323a. The permanent meadows teach many valuable lessons 
if they are studied closely. Here is often found a marked illus- 
tration of the struggle for existence and of the survival of the 
fittest. Here the farmer can give little lielp by tillage, and 



200 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

small opportunity is afforded him to destroy the less desirable 
plants, that the more desirable ones may have better conditions. 

333a. A sprig of alfalfa is shown in^ Fig. 82. It has small 
blue flowers in little clusters, and leaves of three leaflets. It is 
grown somewhat in the East, but it is most useful in the dry 
regions of the Plains and westward. 

335o. All the plants mentioned in this chapter should be 
known to the pupil. In some schools, herbarium specimens 
mzry be made of them. It is interesting and useful to collect 
seeds of farm and garden plants. The school house may very 
profitably contain a cabinet of seeds. Useful bottles are the 
"specimen tubes" sold by wholesale druggists and natural -history 
stores. One is shown in Fig. 83. It is % inch in diameter and 
3 inches high, and can be bought, without the corks, for about 
30 cents per dozen. 

For references on grasses and forage plants, consult Vol. II, 
Cyclopedia of American Agriculture; Hunt's "Forage and Fiber 
Crops in America;" Voorhees' "Forage Crops;" Spillman's " Farm 
Grasses of the United States." For the cereals, see Hunt's 
" Cereals in America." 



Part III 
THE ANIMAL, AND STOCK 



Chapter XIII 
THE OFFICES OF THE ANIMAL 

1. The Animal and the Stock 

336. In ail agncultural sense, the animal, as 
a representative of the animal kingdom, has six 
general types of uses or offices : it aids in main- 
taining the fertility of the land ; it provides a 
means of disposing of crops ; it, or its products, 
may be of intrinsic value in supplying food and 
clothing; it works, or is a "beast of burden"; 
it may aid in keeping the farm clean of weeds 
and pests ; it diversifies agricultural occupations ; 
it affords employment for labor during the 
inclement months. 

337. When animals are raised in quantity, 
they are spoken of as stock. This stock may be 
cattle, turkeys, sheep, ducks, swine, fish, or 
horses ; but in common speech the word is ap- 
plied mostly to quadrupeds (7). 

(iiOl) 



202 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

2. The Animal in Its Relation to the Soil 

338. The first great resource for the improve- 
ment of the textm^e and richness of the soil is 
herbage (108-111) ; the second is farm manures. 
When stock is pastured, practically all the ma- 
nure is returned to the farm ; but when it is 
housed, much of the manure is commonly lost 
through the carelessness of the farmer (120, 
I20a). 

339. The greater the proportion of stock to 
crop, the more fertile the farm should be ; for if 
the farmer must buy feed, the manure is gain, 
so far as the farm is concerned. In general 
mixed husbandry, stock is necessary in order to 
maintain fertility, as well as for its direct value ; 
but in intensive (Ilia) and specialty- farming 
(4a) manures may be bought. 



3. The Animal in Its Relation to the Crop 

340. There is not sufficient market for all the 
crops which the land can raise. Therefore, some 
of the crop may be fed to the animal and sold 
as meat, or butter, or eggs. 

341. There is an important secondary gain in 
this feeding-out of the croj), for part of the crop 
is returned to the land in the manure. Some 



THE OFFICES OK THE ANIMAL 203 

crops, as clover, carry away much more plant- 
food, if they are sold off the farm, than the 
animal products which, in large part, are elabo- 
rated from them. 

4. The Animal Has Intrinsic Value to Man 
4a. As articles of food 

342. Animals are direct sources of food. 
They contribute the various kinds of flesh, as 
beef, pork, poultry, fish. 

343. Animals are indirect sources of food, 
contributing of their products, as eggs, milk. 

344. Animals also contribute materials to 
various manufactured food products, as cheese, 
condensed milk, butter. 

46. As articles used in the arts 

345. Animals contribute materials for cloth- 
ing. Amongst such products are leather and 
wool. They also afford material for many 
articles of personal use, as feathers, bone, hair, 
glue, horn. 

346. Animals contribute largely to fertilizing 
materials, particularly to substances containing 
nitrogen and phosphoric acid. Amongst such 
materials, the most important are bones, dried 
blood, tankage ; of secondary importance are 



204 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

hair- waste, wool -waste, fish -scrap, hoof- meal, 
various forms of horn. 

4c As companions 

347. Many animals are pets, or companions to 
man, and the rearing of them is a species of 
agriculture. Of such are dogs, cats, rabbits, 
tame birds, and others. 



5. The Animal as a Beast of Burden 

348. The animal aids in tilling the soil. How- 
ever much steam may be utilized for propelling 
implements of tillage, the horse and the ox will 
still be indispensable to agriculture. Even the 
tramping of the animals over loose soils tends to 
compact and improve the land (250&). 

349. The animal supplies means of transpor- 
tation. Even with the advent of the electric car, 
the bicycle and the horseless carriage, the driv- 
ing horse will remain an . important part of the 
farm equipment. 

350. The animal also supplies power for the 
driving of farm machinery, as threshing and 
feed-cutting machinery. On large farms, steam 
power must come to be more and more important, 
but on the smaller ones animal power will long 
remain an indispensable factor. 



THE OFFICES OF THE ANIMAL 205 

6. Tlie Animal as a Pest-destroyer 

351. The browsing of animals aids in keeping 
weeds and wild growths in check. It is well- 
known that pasturing with sheep is one of the 
best means of cleaning a weedy area. 

352. Animals may keep insect and fungous 
pests in check by eating the fallen fruit or 
foliage. It is well known that swme keep the 
apple-worm in cheek by eating the windfall 
apples. Swine also root out and eat the white 
grub and other insects. 



o 



7. The Animal Diversifies Labor 

353. The animal itself introduces diversity 
into farming. It also demands the growing of 
diverse crops. It enforces rotations of crops. 
Diverse interests educate the farmer, by demand- 
ing attention to many problems. 

354. Some of the labor which is employed in 
summer in the growing of crops may be em- 
ployed in winter in caring for stock. The 
animal, therefore, introduces continuousness into 
farming. The best laborers demand employment 
the year round. 



206 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 



SUGGESTIONS ON CHAPTER XIII 

338a. It is remarkable how the value of manure increases 
with the age of the country and the intensity of the agriculture. 
This comes as a result of experience, wholly without the teachiug> 
of science, although science explains why manure is valuable, 
and points out many of the limitations of its use. The pros- 
perity of the German peasant is measured by the size of his 
manure-pile. Gardeners place the greatest dependence upon 
manure ; but they want it well rotted, — which means that they 
not only want its plant -food in the most available condition, but 
that they desire to utilize it largely for its mechanical effect in 
loosening the soil with which it is mixed. 

341a. A ton of clover hay removes about forty pounds of 
nitrogen, ten pounds of phosphoric acid and foi-ty pounds of 
potash. A ton of butter removes about two and one -half pounds 
of nitrogen, and less than one pound each of phosphoric acid and 
potash. 

346a. ''Tankage is a highly nitrogenous product, and con- 
sists chiefly of the dried animal wastes from the large abattoirs 
and slaughtering establishments. It is variable in its composition, 
since it includes the otherwise unusable parts of the carcass, as 
bone, tendons, flesh, hair, etc. The portions of this from the 
different animals not only vary in their composition, but they are 
used in varying pi'oportions. which naturally results in an ex- 
tremely variable product. What is known as 'concentrated 
tankage," which is obtained by evaporating the fluids which con- 
tain certain extractive animal matter, is the richest in nitrogen, 
and is more uniform in character than the others ; and because of 
its fineness of division and physical character, the nitrogen con- 
tained in it is also more active than in the other forms." — Voor- 
hees, Fertilisers, 43. 

346fo. Many other animal substances are used for fertilizers. 
Those which are used for their nitrogen are di'ied blood, dried 
meat, dried and ground fish, sea cralis. hoof meal. Those which 
are used for phosphates are the various forms and preparations of 



THE OFFICES OF THE ANIMAL. 207 

bone, as raw, boiled, steamed bone, bone ash and bone-black ; 
also, dried fish. 

351a. With all the remarks which have now been made on 
weeds (22&, 101, lOlrt, 117, 267, 267a,268), the pupil will see that 
the only fundamental and permanent way to escape weeds is 
through better larm management ; and, to a less extent, the same 
conclusion will apply to insect and fungous pests. "I went by the 
field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of 
understanding ; and lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and 
nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof 
was broken down." — Proverbs xxiv., SO, 31. 

354rt. Upon the desirability of continuous employment for 
farm labor, Eoberts speaks as follows when writing of rotations : 
"The baleful results of raising a single or few products in ex- 
tended districts may be seen in California and the great wheat 
districts of the Northwest. In such localities, there is little or no 
true home life, with its duties and restraints ; men and boys are 
herded together like cattle, sleep where they may, and subsist as 
best they can. The work is hard, and from sun to sun for two or 
three months, when it abruptly ceases, and the woi-kmen are left 
to find employment as best they may, or adopt the life and habits 
of the professional tramp. It is difficult to name anytliing more 
demoralizing to men, and especially to boys, than this inter- 
mittent labor ; and the higher the wages paid and the shorter the 
period of service, the more demoralizing the effect. If there 
were no other reason for practicing a rotation with a variety of 
plants, the welfare of the workman and his family should form a 
sufficient one."— Fertility of the Land, 369. 

For references on live-stock, consult Vol. Ill, Cyclopedia of 
American Agriculture; Roberts' "The Horse;" Plumb's "Types 
and Breeds of Farm Animals;" Mayo's "Care of Animals" (Dis- 
eases of Animals). 



Chapter XIV 
HOW THE ANIMAL LIVES 

J A Mies LAW 

1. The Cell, and Its Fart in the Vital 

Processes 
la. The cell 

355. The element in the body that carries on 
vital processes is the cell ; for life in the animal, 
like life in the plant (Chap, viii.), is dependent 
on the existence of cells. Each animal cell is 
a soft, jelly-like substance, held together by 
an exceedingly delicate network of fibers. It 
might be compared to a microscopic particle of 
raw white of egg. 

lb. Single -celled animals 

356. The lowest animals in the scale of 
existence are formed of a single cell, which in 
itself performs all the functions of life. This 
cell can move from place to place, by flowing 
out from its original globular form, so as to 
make a projecting arm, and by continuing to 
flow in the same direction until its whole 
substance has passed into the new position. 

(208) 



HOW THE ANIMAL LIVES 209 

357. This cell can flow out so as to surround 
microscopic particles and draw them into itself ; 
these it can digest and use to increase its own 
substance. By reversing this process, it can 
throw out indigestible and waste materials. It 
can absorb, digest and build into its own sub- 
stance nutritive matters already dissolved in 
water; and it can drive out waste, worn out and 
injurious matters which it holds in solution in its 
own liquid. 

358. Wlien the cell grows too large, it can 
divide into two independent parts, each having 
all the vital powers which belonged to the parent 
cell or globule. 

359. Thus the single -celled animal can make 
of any part of its body limbs for moving, hands 
for grasping, fingers for feeling, stomach for 
digesting, channels for the circulation of its 
nutritive liquids, as well as organs for excretion 
and for the increase of its kind. 



Ic. Many -celled animals 

360. In all the higher animals there is not one 
cell, but myriads ; and these cells are no less 
essential to life and to the healthy performance 
of all vital functions than is the single cell of 
the lowliest organism. In the complex animal 
body, however, the cells build up solid tissues 

N 



210 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGttlCULTURE 

outside themselves. As each cell becomes im- 
prisoned in a minute cavity in such solid 
structure, it is robbed of those common powers 
or functions which belong to the single -celled 
animal, and is specialized for the performance 
of one constant, unchanging round of work. 
Each cell has its own work to do. 

361. Cells may carry on processes of nutri- 
tion. Some cells lie in the microscopic spaces 
left in the hard bone, and conduct the nutrition 
and changes in its substance. Other cells lie 
in the substance of muscle or sinew, or of 
brain, or of some other tissue, and no one 
of these can construct bone nor any other 
structure than that in which it lies. All such 
cells are engaged in carrying on the nutrition 
and growth of their respective tissues, and 
are reserved for this work only. 

362. Cells may carry on nervous processes, 
being set apart for vital work of a kind not 
directly connected with nutrition. Nerve cells, — 
found in the brain, spinal-marrow, and some 
other parts, — receive impressions brought over 
the nerve cords from distant parts of the body. 
They generate and send out nerve force to 
other parts. Some of these cells are set in mo- 
tion by mental acts. 

363. Certain other cells, which line microsco- 
pic sacs in organs known as glands, select from 



HOW THE ANIMAL LIVES 211 

the blood the secretion which that gland is ap- 
pointed to furnish, and pour it out through the 
gland ducts. The secretion from one gland is 
nutritious, as in the case of milk ; that from 
another is digestive, as in the secretion of the 
stomach; and from a third it is waste matter, like 
sweat. The selection from the nutritive liquid of 
the blood is the work of the individual cells, and 
is always the same for each kind of gland. 

364. The cells of some glands construct a new 
substance, which is not secreted but poured back 
into the blood. Thus the liver makes glycogen, 
which passes into grape sugar, and serves for 
the production of heat, muscular work and nu- 
trition. 

365. Some cells on the walls of the intestines 
absorb nutritive and other matters from the 
liquid contents of the bowels and pass them on 
into the circulating (blood and lymph) vessels. 

366. Besides these cells which become im- 
prisoned in their particular tissues, and the work 
of which is restricted to the conducting of the 
growth or other functions of such tissues, there 
is a large class which floats free in the liquids 
of the body. The red and white blood glob- 
ules and lymph cells are examples. These 
globules or corpuscles circulate in all parts of 
the body, thus suggesting the freedom of the 
one -celled animal. But limitations have been 



212 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

set even to these, the red globules being 
mainly carriers of oxygen, while the white also 
have restricted functions. 



2. The Food of Animals 
2a. Kind of food 

367. Food may be either vegetable or ani- 
mal. Many animals, as horses, cattle and 
sheep, live on vegetables, or are herbivorous ; 
while others, like foxes and wolves, eat animal 
food only, or are carnivorous. The food of 
the herbivorous animal has its nutritive prin- 
ciples in a less concentrated condition, and the 
herbivora are accordingly supplied with more 
capacious digestive organs. The same holds 
true of grain -feeders and grass -feeders among 
the herbivora. The grain -fed horse has much 
smaller stomach and intestines than the grass- 
fed ox, and the well-fed domestic rabbit has a 
much more spacious alimentary canal than his 
wild ancestor. 

368. Ai'tificial selection and forcing of meat- 
producing animals has a similar effect. The 
scrub ox, Texas steer and buffalo have light ab- 
dominal contents, while the pampered short-horn, 
Hereford, or black-polled ox has them heavy 
and bulky. In the carnivora they are still more 



HOW THE ANIMAL LIVES 213 

restricted. The intestine of the ox is about 160 
feet long, that of the horse 90 feet, and that 
of the dog only 12 to 14 feet. 

2&. Food constituents 

369. All foods must contain chemical con- 
stituents which will serve to repair the waste of 
the body, to develop growing tissue, and to sup- 
ply materials for the different secretions. 

370. Aside from mineral matters, all food 
constituents which can build up the tissues must 
contain nitrogen, the element which forms four- 
fifths of the atmosphere, and which is an essen- 
tial part of all body tissues. As familiar ex- 
amples of such nitrogenous foods or aliments 
may be named white of egg (albumin), milk 
curd (casein), and one of the soluble parts of 
flour (gluten) . 

371. As common forms of foods that contaip 
no nitrogen, and which cannot form tissues, art 
starch, sugar and fats. These are used up or 
burned in the system to produce body heat, to 
stimulate the contraction of muscles, and to fur- 
nish secretions which are free from nitrogen, 
such as sugar and butter-fat in milk, and sugai- 
(more properly glycogen or sugar -former) in the 
liver. 

372. Both sugar and fat, however, can be 
formed in the body from nitrogenous food, as 



214 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

in the milk of ttie carnivorous animal when red 
flesh only has been fed. In this case the origi- 
nal nitrogenous food is broken up into two or 
more chemical products, one of which contains 
only carbon and hydrogen, or these with the 
addition of oxygen, while all of the nitrogen 
goes to other product or products. 

373. Mineral salts (182a) form a third group 
of food principles. These are essential in repair- 
ing the waste of tissues, and in forming secre- 
tions like milk, bile and gastric juice. 

374. The ideal food contains all of these 
three groups in forms which can be dissolved, 
digested and assimilated into the animal tissues. 
Milk is an ideal food. In it the non- nitroge- 
nous aliments — sugar, butter- fat — are united with 
the nitrogenous — casein, albumin, — and with the 
salts in proportions adapted to the needs of the 
system. 

375. A well-balanced ration for the adult 
animal is one in which these different classes of 
food constituents bear a somewhat definite rela- 
tion to each other, due allowance being made for 
the uses to which the animal is put. The grow- 
ing, working or milking animal requires more of 
the nitrogenous elements, while the fattening ani- 
mal may exchange much of this for the non- 
nitrogenous. 

376. The living body, however, is not like a 



HOW THE ANIMAL LIVES 215 

simple machine, which can, in all cases, turn out 
a product exactly corresponding to the chemical 
food elements which are turned into it. The 
vital element has always to be reckoned with. 
One animal demands a little more of this class of 
aliment, and another a little more of that, in 
order to secure the best results ; while in all cases 
palatability and facility of digestion have a 
controlling influence. 

3. Digestion of Food 
3a. What digestion is 

377. Digestion is the process by means of 
which the food becomes dissolved so as to be 
taken up by the blood. It takes place in the 
alimentary canal, — the mouth, stomach, and 
intestines. 

378. Digestion takes place under the action 
of different secretions, each of which operates 
on special constituents of the food. Considered 
in the order in which they mingle with the 
food, these digestive secretions are : (a) saliva; 
(h) gastric juice,* (c) bile, (d) pancreatic juice, 
(e) intestinal juice. 

36. The saliva 

379. Saliva is furnished by a group of glands 
located under the tongue, in the cheeks, and 



216 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

under the ears. They discharge their secretions 
into the mouth. In grain -eating birds, simihir 
glands surround the crop,— an enlargement of 
the gullet in the region of the neck. 

380. A ferment (ptyalin) in the saliva acts 
on the starch in tlic food, causing it to chemi- 
cally unite with additional water and become 
transformed into sugar. Raw starch is insoluble 
in water, and cannot pass into the circulation ; 
but the sugar formed from it is freely soluble, 
can be readily absorbed into the blood, and 
contributes to the activity, growth and nourish- 
ment of the body. 

381. The ptyalin acts slowly on raw starch, 
and much more rapidly on boiled starch, so that 
cooking of vegetable food favors its digestion. 
It acts best in the absence of acids. It is 
less active when weak organic acids are present, 
and its action is arrested in the stomach by the 
free muriatic or hydrochloric acid. 

382. In animals with one stomach, therefore, 
it is important that the food should be thor- 
oughly masticated and saturated with saliva, and 
not bolted whole, or imperfectly insalivated. In 
ruminants (or cud-chewing animals), as cattle, 
sheep and goats, the food is long delayed in the 
first three stomachs, in which any slight sour- 
ness which may exist is due to mild organic 
acids only ; and, therefore, there is ample 



HOW THE ANIMAL LIVEH 217 

time and opportunity for the full digestion of 
the starch. 

383. Digestion is further favored in these 
animals by the chewing of the cud, by means 
of which the solid portions are returned to 
the mouth, morsel by morsel, to be leisurely 
ground down and again saturated with saliva. 
Digestion is more thoroughly accomplished in 
the third stomach, in which the food is 
ground to the finest pulp between the one 
hundred folds, large and small, which fill its 
interior. 

384. This thorough breaking up or com- 
minution prepares the food for the easy digestion 
of its nitrogenous principles in the fourth stom- 
ach. The removal of the starch renders even 
the finest particles of food more porous, and 
permits the prompt and speedy action of the 
stomach juices on its whole substance. 

385. For some time after birth, the salivary 
glands produce little saliva, and still less ptya- 
lin. This is in keeping with the exclusive milk 
diet, in which there is no starch to be acted 
upon. For this reason, any starchy food in the 
early days of life is out of place; for, as it 
cannot be changed into sugar, nor absorbed 
until it has passed through the stomach and 
reached the intestine, it is liable to ferment 
and to form irritant products, and indigestion. 



218 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

The addition of such elements to the food 
should be made later and a little at a time. 

3c. The gastric juice 

386. The stomach produces three digestive 
principles, which may be separately considered : 
muriatic or hydrochloric acid, pepsin, the milk- 
curdling ferment. These materials comprise the 
gastric juice. 

387. Free muriatic acid is strongly antiseptic, 
especially checking such fermentations as occur 
in the alkaline or neutral saliva, in the first three 
stomachs of ruminants or in the crop of the 
bird. This exposure of the food successively to 
alkaline saliva and acid gastric juice kills off 
myriads of bacterial ferments which would other- 
wise reach the intestine, to prove irritant or 
poisonous. Many still pass into the intestine in 
masses of undigested food, or because they can 
survive both alkaline and acid solutions, or 
because they have passed into the condition of 
spore, which, like the dried seed of plants, is 
comparatively indestructible. 

388. The nuiriatic acid further softens, disin- 
tegrates, and dissolves the various nitrogenous 
food princij^les (coagulated albumin, fibrin, gela- 
tin, casein and vegetable gluten). 

389. Pepsin is a ferment which is secreted in 



HOW THE ANIMAL LIVES 219 

glands found in the end of the stomach nearest 
to the intestine. It acts on the nitrogenous 
principles in the food, which are made to take 
up water, and to change into a much more 
stable and diffusible liquid called a peptone. 

390. Peptones of a great number of different 
kinds are produced from the varied food prin- 
ciples — from such as fibrin, albumin, gluten, 
casein. The peptones all agree in certain com- 
mon characters : (a) they are easily and com- 
pletely soluble in water (fibrin, coagulated al- 
bumin and casein themselves, are not soluble); 
(b) they filter rapidly through animal mem- 
branes, such as a bladder (the agents from which 
they are derived do not) ; {c) they are not 
thrown down as solids by boiling or by strong 
acids (albumin and casein are precipitated by 
strong acids, and albumin by boiling). 

391. Peptones are thus easily absorbed into 
the blood, while the absorption of the original 
principles from which they are derived would be 
exceedingly slow and difficult. Pepsin acts much 
more rapidly in an acid medium, so that it is 
specially adapted to cooperate with the muriatic 
acid. 

392. The milk- curdling ferment is the product 
of the gastric glands. It is utilized in the 
manufacture of cheese. Like pepsin, it acts best 
in the presence of muriatic acid. One part of 



220 THE fKlN01FL.KS OF AUKlCULiTUKE 

this ferment will coagulate 800,000 parts of 
casein. 

393. In birds the gastric juice is secreted in 
an enlargement of the gullet (proventriculus) 
just above the gizzard. The strong muscles 
and cartilaginous lining of the gizzard serve, 
with the pebbles swallowed, to grind down the 
food into a fine pulp and to mix it intimately 
with the gastric juice. 

3d. Intestinal digestion 

394. Under the action of the saliva and gas- 
tric juice, the greater part of the starch and ni- 
trogenous matter is usually digested before the 
food materials pass from the stomach into the 
intestines. The products of digestion are mainly 
sugar and peptones. The fatty matters, — set free 
by the digestion of their nitrogenous envelopes,— 
the undigestible portions, and such digestible 
matters as are as yet not acted on, pass on into 
the intestines, mostly in a finely divided semi- 
fluid condition. 

395. In the intestines, the materials are acted 
on by bile, pancreatic juice, and intestinal juice. 
These fluids are alkaline. 

396. Bile is secreted by the liver. It is 
poured into the intestines a few inches beyond the 
stomach. It renders the contents alkaline, checks 
fermentation, stimulates the movements of the 



HOW THE ANIMAL LIVES 221 

bowels, and transforms their fatty contents into an 
emulsion which penetrates an animal membrane, 
and is absorbed with great rapidity. 

397. Bile has, besides, a limited power of 
changing starch into sugar. It is also useful in 
carrying waste matters out of the l^ody. 

398. Pancreatic juice is poured into the in- 
testines by a canal which in certain animals unites 
with the bile duct. It contains at least four 
different ferments : (a) Amylopsin, which, at 
the body temperature, rapidly transforms starch 
and even gum into sugar, thus completing any 
imperfect work of the saliva ; (b) trypsin, 
which, in an alkaline liquid, changes nitroge- 
nous matters into peptones, thus finishing any 
imperfect work of the stomach ; (c) a milk -cur- 
dling ferment. 

399. The pancreatic juice, as a whole, acts 
like the bile in causing fats to form emulsions. 
It even breaks up the fats into fatty acids and 
glycerin. 

400. Intestinal juice is a complex mixture of 
the different secretions already named, together 
with the products of the glands of the intestinal 
walls. The secretions of these walls act like 
pancreatiic juice, only less powerfully. 

401. As a whole, the digestive agents thrown 
into the intestines cover the whole field of di- 
gestion, and largely make up for any defective 



222 THE PRINCIPLES OP AGRICULTURE 

work of the saliva and gastric juice. Even in 
cases in which the stomach has been removed, 
the intestines have taken up its functions and 
have maintained a fair measure of health. 



4. Absorption of the Digested Matters 

4rt. Hoiv absorption takes place 

402. The food principles, digested or emul- 
sionized, as before stated, are now absorbed into 
the blood and lymph vessels, chiefly through the 
villi of the intestines. These villi are minute hair- 
like projections from the lining membrane, from 
aV to aV of an inch in length. They are covered 
with soft cells, the deeper ends of which reach 
the capillary blood-vessels and lymphatics occu- 
pying the interior of each villus. 

403. The cells of the villus take in the liquid 
products of digestion, and pass them on into the 
vessels beneath. By a muscular contraction of 
the villus, these vessels are emptied at frequent 
intervals into the larger veins and lymphatics in 
the walls of the intestines. 

404. The interior of the small intestine, 
which immediately follows the stomach, is 
covered throughout by these villi. Owing to 
the rapid absorption conducted by them, the 
soluble contents of this intestine are in great 



HOW THE ANIiMAL LIVES 223 

part removed and transferred to the circulatory 
system before the large intestine is reached. 

4h. Destination of the rich blood from the intestines 

405. The veins from the stomach and intes- 
tines carry the rich products of digestion into 
the capillaries of the liver. Here they not onlj' 
contribute to produce bile, but also new combi- 
nations of nutritive and other compounds, which 
pass into the general circulation. 

406. One of the most important of these new 
products is sugar, which, as already stated (372), 
is formed even in the liver of animals fed on a 
strictly carnivorous diet. The importance of this 
product may be inferred from the fact that the 
liver is very large in the young and rapidly- 
growing animal, and also in mature animals of 
a meat -producing race : these animals have ex- 
traordinary powers of digestion and fattening. 

407. Another important function of the liver 
is the transformation, — largely by union with 
additional oxygen, — of worn-out or effete red 
globules, and of much of the useless nitrogenous 
material in the blood, into urea and other solu- 
ble products. These products are finally passed 
off by the kidneys. They afford a stimulus to 
secretion by the kidneys, and supply an abun- 
dance of material which can pass readily througli 



224 THE phinc"ii'i.p:s of a(;riculture 

these organs without causing irritation or de- 
rangement. 

408. Another important liver function is the 
transformation of peptones (which are poisonous 
when thrown into the blood in any considerable 
quantity) into products which are non- poisonous, 
and are capable of assimilation. These pro- 
ducts form tissue, or fulfill some other im- 
portant use in the body. 

409. Still another important use of the liver 
is to transform into harmless compounds the 
poisonous products of bacterial fermentations 
(such as ptomaines and toxins). These occur 
in the contents of the intestine, and might often 
prove deadly if allowed to pass this guardian 
sentinel — the liver — in any considerable amount. 



5. Respiration, or Breathing 

5a. What breathing is 

410. Breathing consists in the substitution of 
oxygen of the air for carbon dioxid in the blood 
and tissues of the animal body. It results in 
the combination of the oxygen of the air with 
certain organic constituents of the system ; and 
it fits these constituents for various uses, or for 
elimination as waste matters. 



HOW THE ANIMAL LIVES 225 

411. Ill the main, the air is changed in 
breathing as follows : carbon 

Oxygen Nitrogen dioxid 
Inspired, or breathed-in air contains . . . 20.81 79.15 .04 

Expired, or breathed-out air contains . . . 16.033 79.557 4.38 

In every 100 parts, air loses, by being breathed, 
about 4 parts of oxygen, and gains about 4 
parts of carbon dioxid. 

412. In breathing, the air is also charged 
with water vapor and with small quantities of 
ammonia and marsh gas. It also receives a 
volatile organic matter, which may be foetid, 
and when condensed in water soon develops a 
putrid odor. 

413. In the breathing process, the blood and 
the air are brought into the closest possible 
contact. One- celled animals breathe through 
the entire surface, fishes through gills waved in 
the water, from which they abstract oxygen, 
frogs through the walls of a simple air- sac, 
in which the blood-vessels circulate. In warm- 
blooded animals, this sac or lung is divided 
throughout into myriads of minute air- sacs or 
cells, varying from too to -J^ of an inch in 
diameter. The walls are so thin that the blood 
flowing through their capillary vessels is con- 
stantly exposed, on two sides, to the air with 
which they are filled. The membrane consti- 
tuting the walls of these sacs is so exceedingly 



226 THE PRINCIPLES OP AGRICULTURE 

thin and permeable that gases pass through it 
with great rapidity, — the oxygen from the air 
to the blood, and the carbon dioxid from the 
blood to the air. 

5&. Blood -changes in respiration 

414. The heart of warm-blooded animals 
is composed of two double cavities, right and 
left, which are quite distinct from each other. 
The left side pumps the blood into the arte- 
ries of the system at large, whence it returns 
through the veins to the right side. The right 
side, in its turn, pumps the blood into the arte- 
ries of the lungs, whence it returns by the lung- 
veins to the left side. In this way the blood 
is circulated first through the lungs, and then 
through the tissues of the rest of the body. 

415. The blood is of a dark red or purple 
color as found in the veins, in the right side 
of the heart, and in the arteries of the lungs. 
It is of a bright crimson hue as it returns 
from the lungs and passes through the left 
side of the heart and the arteries to all parts 
of the body. The varying color is determined 
by the presence of a larger amount of oxygen 
in the arterial (bright crimson) blood, and by 
its com.parative absence, and by the presence 
of an excess of carbon dioxid, in the venous 
(dark red) blood. 



HOW THE ANIMAL LIVES 227 

416. The difference between the artery -blood 
and vein -blood is shown in the following table : 

Vols. Vols, of 

of carbon 

oxygen dioxid 

From 100 vols, of arterial blood may be obtained • . 20 39 

" " " venous " " " " ..8 to 12 46 

417. The excess of oxygen in the arterial 
blood is used up as it passes through the capil- 
laries, and is replaced by carbon dioxid. The 
excess of carbon dioxid brought back by the 
venous blood is thrown out into the air fill- 
ing the lungs, and is replaced in the blood 
by the oxygen taken up from the air. The 
carbon dioxid is made up of one atom of car- 
bon obtained by the breaking up of the tis- 
sues or blood elements which contain carbon, 
and of two atoms of oxygen carried to such 
tissue or element by the blood. 

418. Breathing, therefore, or the combination 
of oxygen with carbon to form the carbon di- 
oxid, really does not take place in the Imigs, 
but in the various parts of the body to which 
the blood carries the oxygen. 

5c. Amount of air required 

419. The amount of carbon dioxid passed 
into the blood and exhaled by the lungs is in- 
creased by exercise, work, sunshine and food ; 
hence the necessity for more rapid breathing 



228 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

under such conditions. The amount also varies 
with the kind of animal. The pig produces 
more in proportion to his body weight than 
the carnivora, rabbit, and fowl ; and these 
again produce a larger proportionate amount 
than the horse or the ox. 

420. Air which contains 10 to 12 per cent 
of carbon dioxid will no longer sustain life. The 
deleterious effect is due partly to the lack of 
oxygen in such re -breathed air, but also to the 
excess of the poisonous carbon dioxid, volatile 
organic matter, and other injurious products. 
Air which contains even 1 per cent of carbon 
dioxid produced by breathing is injurious to a 
marked degree. In a perfectly close place, 
where there can be no access of fresh air, a 
horse would contaminate to this extent over 7,000 
cubic feet in 24 hours. 

421. The question of stable space, however, is 
dependent on the amount of air that can be 
introduced by ventilation in a given length of 
time. The tighter the building and the less the 
admission of fresh air, the greater must be the 
area supplied ; while the greater the facility for 
the entrance of fresh air, the smaller need be the 
space per animal. If the whole of the air could 
be removed every three hours, 1,000 cubic feet 
per horse or cow would suffice to keep the air 
sufficiently pure and wholesome. 



HOW THK ANIMAL, LIVKS 229 

6. Work ; Waste ; Best 
6a. Waste of tissue 

422. Under bodily labor, the elements of the 
muscles are used up to a certain extent, while 
heat and waste matters are produced. A 
period of rest is required to allow for repair ot 
this waste. We see this carried out in all healthy 
bodily functions. The heart, after each contrac- 
tion, has a short rest before the commencement 
of the next contraction. The muscles that carry 
on breathing work in relays, those that dilate the 
chest resting while those that compress the 
chest are in operation. Then both rest for an 
interval before the next inspiration is com- 
menced. This i)rovides for rest and repair of 
both the muscles and nerves. Except for such 
rest, both would soon be exhausted and wasted 
beyond the power of work. 

423. The waste of tissues, however, is not 
always in exact proportion to the amount of 
work. On the contrary, it has been sliowu by 
careful experiment that the waste of the working- 
muscle is but a small part of the expenditure 
made. The heat- or fat-producing matters in 
the food are also used up in such work. 
The process may be likened to fuel supplied to 
the engine, which contributes to keep it running 



280 TliE PKINCIPLES OF AGKICULTUBE 

with the expenditure of but a small part of its 
own proper substance. Thus the starch and 
sugar in the diet contribute not only to main- 
tain heat and to lay up fat, but also to render 
possible a large expenditure of muscular energy 
and work. 

66. Applications to practice 

424. Such expenditure of food and muscular 
energy in producing heat and work prevents the 
laying out of the same capital for other uses, 
such as growth, fattening or milking. In do- 
mestic animals, which can be profitably kept 
only when adapted to special uses, expenditures 
in other directions must be limited as far as may 
be in keeping with the maintenance of health. 

425. For rai3id fattening, rest and warmth and 
seclusion are favorable. Even the milch cow, put 
in the stable in good health, may be made to 
give more milk for a time when kept idle in a 
warm stall than when turned out to gather her 
food from a pasture. This, however, cannot be 
safely carried to extremes. The continuous dis- 
use of the muscles tends to their waste and 
degeneration, to an impoverishment of the blood, 
to a loss of tone of the nervous and other organs, 
and to a gradual lowering of vitality. For ani- 
mals that are soon to be sacrificed to the butcher, 
this is not to be considered ; but for such as 



HOW THE ANIMAL LIVES 231 

are to reproduce their kind and keep up the 
future herd, a moderate amount of muscular 
exercise is as important as suitable food and 
hygiene. 

426. The animal body is a very complex 
organism, with an almost endless variety of parts 
and functions, each of which is more or less 
essential to the full usefulness of the whole. The 
best condition of bodily health is that in which 
all of these are properly adjusted to each other 
and to the surroundings. In the case of farm 
animals, the complexity is the greater because the 
natural functions must be developed here and 
restricted there, to make them a profitable pos- 
session; and all this must be done within limits 
which will be compatible with the maintenance of 
health and vigor. 



SUGGESTIONS ON CHAPTER XIV 

359«. The best illustration which the pupil can secure of a 
single-celled structureless organism is the amoeba (Fig. 8i). 
This lowly animal lives in stagnant pools, and can be secured 
by scraping the scum off the stems and leaves of water plants. 
In its larger forms it is barely visible to the naked eye. 

3596. The Fig. 85 shows a spindle-shaped (involuntary) con- 
tractile cell or fiber from the muscular layer of the intestine, 
showing nucleus in white and nucleolus in black. It has no 
such variety of functions as the amoeba has. 

360a. A part or an organism is said to be specialized when 
it is fitted for some particular work, rather than for general 



232 



THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 



work. A cell which has to do only with nutrition is special- 
ized ; one which has to do with nutrition, sensation, locomotion, 
and reproduction, is generalized. A cell may be said to be 




Fig. 84. Amceba, showing large, round nucleus 
near the top, enclosing a nucleolus, many 
granules, protruding arms of protoplasm. Fig. 85. 

and white space round which the proto- Muscle cell, 

plasm has flowed. Magnified 200 diameters. Magnified. 

still further specialized when it carries on some particular or 
special part of nutrition. 

363rt. A secretion is a material derived from the blood and 
poured out into the body. When this material is of no further 
use, it is eliminated, or removed from the body, and is known as 
an excretion. The saliva, eye-water, bile, gastric juice, are ex- 
amples of secretions. 

3636. Glands are secreting organs. Thus the salivary glands 
secrete or make the saliva or spittle, from the blood. The 
liver is a gigantic gland, secreting bile and other materials. 

364a. Glycogen is very like starch. In fact, it has the same 
chemical composition, CeHjoOs. It is rapidly changed into grai)t- 
sugar or glucose by the action of saliva and other juices, ami 
it then becomes available for the building of tissue or keepinir 
up the bodily heat. 



HOW THE ANIMAL LIVES 



233 



365a. Lymph is a pi'oduct of the blood. It is a pale liquid 
which transudes from the thin or capillary blood vessels, and is 
used to nourish and build up the tissues. The lymphatic system 
carries food materials to the places where they are needed. 
See 409b. 

367rt. By the alimentary canal is meant the whole digestive 
tract, beginning with the mouth, and comprising the gullet or 
esophagus, the stomach, the small and large intestines. 

371ffl. The fats contain carbon, 
hydrogen and oxygen, but the oxy- 
gen is in small proportion. One 
of the common fats (palmatin) has 
the composition CsiHggOe ; another 
(stearin) is CotHhoOb. 

379a. In physiology, the word 
ferment is used to designate sub- 
stances which have power to make 
starch-like materials soluble by con- 
verting them into sugar-like materi- 
als. These ferments, of which ptyalin 
is one, are secretions. They are also 
called enzyms. These secretions 
may be the products of cells in the 
animal body or of independent micro- 
organisms. The micro-organisms are themselves often called 
ferments (35a). 

382rt. The single stomach of a carnivorous animal is shown 
in Fig. 86. The stomach of a ruminant is well illustrated in 
Fig. 87, the front walls being cut away to show the internal 
structure. It has four divisions : C, paunch ; R, reticulum ; N, 
manifolds ; O, the true digesting stomach. 

385a. There are various experiments which the pupil can 
perform. Mix a little well -boiled starch with a small quantity 
of saliva, and after a time it will be found to have become 
sweet. If at the outset a drop of solution of iodine is added 
to the mixture it will produce a blue color (2036). As the 
starch is changed into sugar, this color gradually fades and in 
the end disappears. 




Fig. 86. btumaoh of dog. 



234 



THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 



387a. An antiseptic is any niatei'ial which destroys germs 
or bacteria (284a). The muriatic or hydrochloric acid is present 
in small amounts, ranging from 0.2 to 0.8 and upward in 1,000 
parts in the different kinds of animals. 

387&. A substance may be acid or sour, in which case it 
turns blue litmus red (153, 153a). It may be alkaline, as lye, 




Fig. 87. Stomach of sheep. 



Fig. 88. Crop and 
gizzard of fowl. 



in which case it turns red litmus blue. It may be neutral, 
giving neither reaction. 

387c. Flowerless plants, of which fungi, ferns, and bacteria 
are examples, do not produce seeds, but spores. These spores 
are usually single cells, and contain no embryo. They can 
wsually grow, even after becoming dry. Spores are commonly 



HOW THK ANIMAL LIVES 235 

more difficult to kill than the organism is when in an actively 
growing condition. 

390a. A precipitate, in chemistry, is a more or less solid 
material, which is the result of chemical action, and which settles 
to the bottom of the liquid in which it is formed. Thus, let the 
pupil blow through a straw into a bottle of lime water. The 
liquid will become cloudy, and after a time the sediment will 
settle to the bottom. The pupil has added the carbon dioxid 
(CO2) of his breath to the lime water, and carbonate of lime 
(or limestone) has been formed. Compare 194rt. 

392a. The action of the gastric juice may be familiarly seen 
in the curdling of milk in the cheese factory by means of 
rennet. A little mince-meat mixed with the scrapings of the 
lining membrane of a pig's stomach, rendered slightly acid 
by a drop or two of muriatic acid and kept near blood-heat 
(96° F), will soon be completely dissolved, with the formation 
of peptone. 

392&. Rennet is the digestive principle derived from the 
fourth stomach of ruminants (O, Fig. 87). This stomach is 
taken from calves and dried ; and the stomach itself is then 
spoken of as rennet. The stomach of adult* animals could also 
be used, if necessary. 

393a. The gastric apparatus of a chicken is shown in Fig. 
88. The crop is at a, the proventriculus at b, and the gizzard 
at c. 

396a. An emulsion is that condition in which fatty or 
oily materials are so intimately mixed with the liquid in which 
they are placed that they act much as if they were in actual 
solution, even passing through membranes. Most farmers are 
now familiar with the kerosene emulsion, used as an insecti- 
cide (296a;. 

399a. Glycerin is a colorless liquid which is associated with 
fats or fat-acids, and which may be derived from them. Its 
composition is C3H5(OH)3. It is often made from the fats by 
artificial means, and is used in medicine and the arts. Also 
spelled glycerine. 

402fl. Two villi are shown in Fig. 89. The singular form of 
the word is villus. 



2'M 



THE PKliNtUPLES OK AGKlCULiTlUtE 



404a. In conneetion with intestinal digestion and absorption, 
the bile fills a specially important economic function, in sup- 
plying many of its ingredients to be used over and over again 
in the course of the same day. The bile stimulates in a high 
degree the absorption of the digested products, entering with 
them into the veins. As all the blood returning from the 
intestines must pass through the live?, the elements of the 
absorbed bile are secreted anew and once more poured into the 
intestine. Hence a small amount of bile performs a very large 
amount of work ; and hence, too, any suspension of the secre- 
tion of bile interferes seriously with the general health. 

409«. A ptomaine (pronounced to-main) is a material formed 
from the decomposition of dead tissue. It is alkaline, and often 
poisonous. The poison in unwholesome ice-cream, for example, 
is a ptomaine. Ptomaines often result from tlie destructive 
work of microbes. The term toxin is applied to a poisonous 
product of fermentation, whether alkaline or neutral. 

4096. It may be well to speak of the destination of the 
cfiyle. Chyle is the liquid formed of the materials absorbed 

from the bowels into the 
lymph vessels. It is albu- 
minous (nitrogenous) and 
fatty, with a white, milkj' 
color. Tliis, like the lymph 
in the other lymph vessels 
in various parts of the 
body, contains white, 
spherical, microscopic 
cells, wliicli are greatly 
increased after passing 
througli the lymph glands, 
and when poured into the 
^^ blood become white blood 

" ' ^globules. During the in- 

Fig. 89. Surface of mucous membrane of tervals in which there is 
the intestine, showing villi with een- ^^ digestion, the lymph 
tral lacteal duct and blood vessels, i i • ^i • ^ 

and on the surface the absorbiijgepi- «'' ^^^J'^^ i" ^h^se intes- 
thelial cells. final vessels, as in other 




HOW THE ANIMAL LIVES 237 

parts of the body, is a simple straw -colored liquid consisting 
f)f surplus nutritive matter which has not been required by 
the needs of the part, and is being returned to the blood. 
In this lymph we find an important source of supply of the 
white blood globules, which are being constantly used up ; 
and thus derangements in the lymph vessels and glands injuri- 
ously affect the blood, and through it the entire animal system. 
409&. The admirable adaptation of means to end is trace- 
able in the successive changes of these food products. The 
nitrogenous constituents in the food, which are not fitted for 
al)sorption, are transformed into the peptones, which are spe- 
cially adapted for rapid absorption. Then the peptones, which 
are not fitted for nutrition, but are really poisonous, are changed 
in the liver, so as to render them harmless and fitted for the 
varied uses of the body, or for elimination. Other food princi- 
ples are turned into sugar, and some poisonous fermentation 
products are rendered harmless through the action of the liver. 
This interdependence of different functions upon each other — 
mastication, insalivation, digestion, absorption, transformations 
in the liver, the formation of normal blood elements, assimi- 
lation and secretion — furnishes an indication of what goes on 
throughout the whole animal body, the perfection of one process 
being essential to that of others, and the derangement of one 
causing disorder of the others. The nervous system, which is 
concerned in carrying on all functions, from those of simple 
nutrition of a tissue or of secretion by a gland up to such mental 
processes as the animal is endowed with, is dependent on the 
lilood for its own functional activity. Changes in the blood 
entail change in the capacity for nervous work ; so that disorder 
of one distant organ, acting l\v influencing the nervous system, 
directly through the nerves or indirectly through the blood, 
may bring about derangements of the most varied kind iu the 
different organs subject to nervous influence. The great func- 
tion of the lungs is the elimination of carbon dioxid from the 
blood and tissues and the introduction of oxygen, which, being 
carried into all parts by the red globules, assists in nearly 
every change which takes place in any organ. But if tlie lungs 



238 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

fail to fulfill theii' function to any degree, every organ and 
function is affected. Most of the waste nitrogenous matter 
leaves the body through the kidneys, but if this channel of 
elimination is interfered with, the effete matters are retained, and 
they poison and derange every organ from the brain downward. 
Even apparently insignificant organs have a far-reaehing in- 
fluence. The spleen and bone marrow-cells affect the develop- 
ment of blood globules. A small gland at the throat (thyroid ) 
affects the nervous system, and a still smaller one at the base 
of the bi-ain (pituitary) influences the growth of the limbs. 

411rt. Eepeat the experiment suggested in 390rt. Make lime 
water by placing a piece of quicklime iu a bottle of pure 
water, shaking and setting aside to settle. Then take a little 
of the clear liquid and with a syringe force air through / 
it. It will become only slightly turbid. Next take a tube and 
blow through this water for a short time, when it will become 
white and opaque by the formation of lime carbonate, owing 
to the union of carbon dioxid with the lime. 

413«. The lung of any of the higher animals presents an 
enormous surface to the inspired air. To illustrate the extra- 
ordinary extent of breathing surface formed by this minute di- 
vision of the lungs into microscopic sacs, it may be stated that, 
in the horse, it reaches an area of 500 to 800 square feet. 

4I4a. The heart of an ox, sheep, or other animal can be 
obtained at the slaughter house or of the butcher. Discover 
the right and left cavities, — a ventricle surmounted by an auricle 
on each side, — the valves around the opening leading from the 
auricle to the ventricle, and the cords connecting the valves with 
the inner side of the ventricle. 

416a When blood is shed in killing an animal or otherwise, 
observe how the surface layer gradually changes from the dark 
red to a bright crimson as it takes up the oxygen from the air. 

418a. In the conveyance of oxygen in the blood the color- 
ing matter of the red globules (hemoglobin) is the principle 
bearer. It combines with oxygen loosely, and gives it up promptly 
at the demand of the carbon. The bright crimson color is due 
to the union of much oxygen with the coloring matter of the 



HOW THE ANIMAL LIVES 239 

red blood globules, while the dark red hue is caused by the 
comparative absence of oxygen. The liquid elements of the 
blood (serum) can absorb and convey but little oxygen. In 
order to have free and healthy breathing, therefore, the blood 
must contain abundance of red globules, and these must be 
well developed, containing a large amount of the red coloring 
matter. Ill health, lack of sunshine, and various diseases, 
which cause diminution of the red globules or of their coloring 
matter, interfere with respiration and consequently with the 
healthy nutrition and function of the tissues of the animal. 

4:26a. Persons who desire a detailed account of the physiology 
of domestic animals, may consult F. Smith's "Manual of Veteri- 
nary Physiology." Advice as to the treatjnent of animals is 
contained in Law-s " Farmer's Veterinary Adviser.'' 



Chapter XV 
THE FEEDING OF THE ANIMAL 



H. H. WING 



1. Sources of Food of Animals 

427. Broadly speaking, an animal must feed 
upon either animal or vegetable substances, and 
it has no power to use as food mineral or inor- 
ganic substances. 

428. Any substance which an animal may use 
as food is called a fodder. A fodder must con- 
tain the substances that are needed for suste- 
nance in such form that the animal can use 
them, and must not contain anything that is 
injurious or poisonous to the animal. 



-. How the Animal Uses Food 

429. The plant, by reason of its vital force 
and with the aid of the energy of the sun, trans- 
forms simple forms of matter into more complex 
ones, and in so doing locks or stores up a part 
of the energy received. The animal, by means 

C240) 



THE FEEDING OF THE ANIMAL 241 

of its digestive processes, tears down these sub- 
stances, setting free the energy and transforming 
the matter into forms suitable to be incorporated 
into animal tissue. 

430. Before the matter of the fodder can be 
used, it is necessary that the animal expend energy 
upon it during the processes of digestion and as- 
similation. The profit of the fodder to the animal 
is represented by the difference between the 
amount of energy originally present in the fodder 
and the amount of energy it is necessary for the 
animal to expend upon it in order to make it 
available. Some substances require so great an 
expenditure of energy by the animal to digest or 
partially digest them that they are useless as 
fodders, although they may contain the proper 
compounds in measurably proper proportions. 

431. Fodder is used by the animal (1) as fuel 
to keep up the bodily heat, without which the 
vital processes cannot go on; (2) to repair the 
wastes of the various tissues, organs and fluids of 
the body; (3) to form new tissues or organs, or 
add to those already formed (especially in young 
animals); (4) to produce young; and (5) to lay 
up reserve stores in the form of fat or otherwise, 
to secrete various products, or to perform muscu- 
lar labor Many of these reserves or products 
are useful to man, as milk, wool and eggs. 

432. In general, if the amount of food is 



242 THE PKlNClPLiEH OF AUKICULTURE 

insufficient it will be used for the first four pur- 
poses, approximately in the order named ; and 
only after the needs of the animal are fully 
supplied in these respects will food be used 
for the last purpose. The food used for the 
first four purposes is called food of support or 
food of maintenance ; that used for the last 
purpose is food of production. 

433. Not all of the food taken into the body 
can be used by the animal. The digestive fluids 
fail to act upon a part of the food, and this passes 
out through the intestines as undigested solid 
excrement. It is only the food which is di- 
gested that is of use to the animal. 

434. The proportion of food digested varies 
with the animal. One animal may digest 80 per 
cent of the food eaten ; another, standing by its 
side, equally healthy and equally vigorous and 
of similar age, may digest less than 40 per 

cent. 

435. The amount digested varies with the food 

and with the different constituents in the food. 
Some foods are almost wholly digested; of others 
less than one-fourth is digested. In any given 
fodder, one constituent may be readily and 
largely digestible, while another is digested only 
with difficulty and in a small amount. In general, 
of the food eaten only from one-half to two- 
thirds is digested. 



TH£ FEEDING OF THE ANlMALi 243 

3. Composition of Fodders 
3a. Classification 

436. Fodders are made up of a large number 
of substances, all of which are of more or less 
use to the animal, and each of which, to some 
extent, serves a definite pm-pose when used as 
food. While the number of separate compounds 
in fodders is very large, they fall into a few very 
distinct groups or classes, depending upon their 
composition and the purposes which they serve 
the animals. These classes are (a) water, 
(b) ash, (c) protein, (d) carbohydrates, including 
fiber, (e)fat. 

36. Water 

437. Water is present in all fodders without 
exception, but the proportion is very variable. 
Some roots and green fresh fodders occasionally 
have as much as 90 per cent of water, whereas, 
in some or the kiln-di*ied by-products the per- 
centage of water may fall as low as 5 or 6 per 
cent. Ordinary air- dried fodder, as the grains, 
hay, straw, usually contains from 10 to 15 per 
cent of water. 

438. The water in the fodder to a certain 
extent supplies the needs of the animal instead of 
water whicli is drunk. Animals consuming a 



244 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

watery food will need to drink less water ; but 
no food contains so much water that it can be 
used by the animal to supply its needs for 
both water and solid matters. 

439. In general, water adds tenderness, suc- 
culence and palatability to fodders. Green fresh 
fodders are more palatable than the same fodders 
dried ; and the palatability of hay or other dry 
fodder may be increased by soaking in water, or 
by steaming. 

3c. Ash 

440. Ash is the small residue which is left 
when any animal or vegetable matter is com- 
pletely burned. It is mineral matter obtained by 
the plant from the soil (147, 192), and is com- 
posed of very nearly the same substances in both 
plants and animals. Some ash is found in all 
parts of all plants and all animals, and it is 
necessary to those parts. Life can not be main- 
tained or the vital processes carried on without 
this ash. 

441. In general, the proportion of ash is 
small, but the bones of animals and certain 
parts of the plant, as the bark, contain con- 
siderable amounts. With scarce an exception, 
the amount of ash present in ordinary fodders 
is sufficient for the needs of the animal, and, 
therefore, it need not be taken into account in 



r 



THK FEEDING OF TidE AxMMAL 245 

making up a ration or deciding upon a fodder; 
since no matter what is fed, it is almost certain 
that the animal will find in it an abundant sup- 
ply of the proper mineral elements, with the 
exception of common salt. 

'M. Albuminoids 

442. The protein, or proteids, constitutes a 
very important group of fodder constituents. 
While they are of a complex and varied com- 
position, all contain nitrogen as a distinctive 
constituent, as well as carbon, oxygen and 
hydrogen, and usually sulfur and phosphorus. 
It is the nitrogen that gives to the members 
of this group their importance as food (370). 

443. Organic activities can not be maintained 
without nitrogen. It is an essential constituent 
of the living animal or vegetable cell, and no 
new growth can take place without it ; conse- 
quently it must be constantly supplied in the 
food of both plant and animal. Nitrogen is not 
a constituent of the other groups of food ele- 
ments, and, therefore, the growth of the animal 
depends in large measure on the supply of protein. 

444. While more or less protein is found in 
nearly all fodders, its proportion is very va- 
riable, and in very many cases is less than is 
required by the animal to sustain life or to make 
useful arrowth. Those fodders that contain large 



246 THE PRINCIPLES OP AGRIOULTUKE 

amounts of protein are mainly found in the grains 
and other concentrated foods that are relatively 
high-priced. Both these conditions make the 
problem of successful feeding largely one of the 
sufficient and economical supply of albuminoids. 
If an insufficient amount is furnished, the animal 
suffers in growth or production; if more than 
enough is supplied, costly waste ensues. 

3i?. Oarboliydrates 

445. By far the largest part of the dry matter 
of fodders is classed with the carbohydrates, the 
most familiar examples of which are sugars, 
starch, gum and vegetable fiber (371). These 
substances contain carbon, oxygen, hydrogen — the 
two latter in the proportions in which they are 
found in water. They contain no nitrogen. 

446. By union with oxygen in the lungs and 
blood, the carbohydrates are decomposed into 
carbonic acid (carbon dioxid) and water, and 
heat is evolved in precisely the same way as 
under ordinary combustion in the air. They 
are thus the main source of heat to the animal. 
They are also a source of muscular energy, and 
in most cases an important source of fat in both 
tissue and product. 

447. Of the carbohydrates, fiber is much less 
readily acted on by the digestive fluids, and 
often a large part of it passes through the animal 



THE FEEDING OF THE ANIMAL 247 

without change. For this reason it is often con- 
venient to consider it in a class by itself. So far 
as it is used at all, it serves the same purpose as 
the other carbohydrates. 

3/. Fats 

448. The fats (371ffi) of fodder are used by 
the animal for much the same purposes as the 
carbohydrates. They contain onh^ carbon, oxy- 
gen and hydrogen, but proportionately much 
less oxygen than the carbohydrates. For this 
reason they yield much more energy when de- 
composed or burned, and are, therefore, of 
much more value to the animal than the carbo- 
hydrates. 

449. The amount of energy yielded by differ- 
ent fats varies somewhat, but in general, it is 
about two and one -fourth times as much as that 
yielded by an equal weight of sugar or starch ; 
and in reducing fat to its "starch equivalent" (for 
purposes of comparison) this is the factor com- 
monly employed. In ordinary fodders the per- 
centage of fat is not large, running from about 
3 to about 8 per cent of the air- dry substance. 

4. Feeding 
4a. N'titritive ratio 

450. From what has already been said, it will 
be seen that the protein, carbohydrates and fats 



248 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

are the constituents of the fodder that are of 
dh*ect use to the animal. These are often collec- 
tively spoken of as nutrients, and the portion of 
them that is digestible as digestible nutrients. 

451. Since the protein (or albuminoids) is 
necessary to growth and reproduction, and since 
the carbohydrates and fats are mainly used to 
produce heat and work and reserve stores of 
fat, the proper relations of these constituents 
to one another in various fodders and rations 
constitute an important part of the science and 
art of feeding. A ration is said to be balanced 
when these substances exist in the proper propor- 
tion to one another for the purpose intended. 

452. It has been found convenient to express 
the relation between the protein and other con- 
stituents in the form of a ratio, known as the 
nutritive ratio. The nutritive ratio is the ratio of 
the digestible protein to the digestible carbohy- 
drates plus two and one -fourth times (449) the 
digestible fat, expressed in terms of unity or 
one of the protein. 

453. The nutritive ratio is found by adding to 
the digestible carbohydrates two and one -fourth 
times the digestible fat, and dividing by the 
digestible protein. It is expressed thus : Nutr. 
Eatio 1: 5.5. It means that in some certain fod- 
der or ration there is for each pound of digest- 
ible protein or flesh -forming nutrients, five and 



THE FEEDING OF THE ANIMAL 249 

one -half pounds of digestible heat and fat- 
forming elements. A ratio is said to be wide or 
narrow when the proportion of heat -forming 
nutrients is large or small in proportion to the 
protein. Thus, 1: 12 is wider than 1:7. 

454. A certain proportion should exist between 
the nitrogenous and non- nitrogenous nutrients of 
a ration. Animals that are growing rapidly, that 
are bearing young, and that are producing wool, 
milk or eggs, require a more nitrogenous food 
than animals that are working, or fattening, or 
living without gain or loss of weight. For the 
latter, the nutritive ratio may be as wide as 1: 12 
or 1 : 14 ; for the former, the nutritive ratio should 
be as narrow as 1:5 or 1:6. 

455. Formerly it was supposed that slightly 
differing nutritive ratios would make distinct 
differences in the effectiveness of a ration or the 
quality of the product ; but it is now generally 
considered that the limits of variation in the 
nutritive ratio may be rather wide without mate- 
rially influencing the nutritive effect of the 
ration. Other conditions may mask the effect 
due to differences in the nutritive ratio. 

456. One of the chief reasons for taking the 
nutritive ratio into consideration is that the pro- 
tein may be economically used. Protein should 
be used for the formation of nitrogenous products 
in the animal. It may, however, be used as a 



250 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

source of heat, instead of the cheaper starch or 
sugar. This may occur in any ration when the 
proportion of protein is in excess ; but there is 
generally a too small proportion of protein. 

457. By far the larger number of natural 
fodders are deficient in protein, and a chief task 
qf the feeder is to furnish, from by-products or 
otherwise, a sufficient amount of albuminoids in 
the cheapest form. Usually more protein can 
be used to advantage by the animal than is 
furnished to it. 

46. Quantity of food required 

458. The quantity of food that an animal can 
profitably or economically use is dependent upon a. 
variety of circumstances and conditions. In the 
first place, a certain amount must go to the sup- 
port of the body and the vital functions. This is 
known as the food of maintenance (432) ; and 
a ration calculated to keep an animal alive and 
in good health without gain or loss of body 
weight is called a maintenance ration. 

459. The amount of food required for sup- 
port depends upon the size and somewhat upon 
the individuality of the animal. Small animals 
require more food in proportion to their weight 
than large ones. Average animals of the same 
class, however, are usually considered to require 
t'ood in proportion to their body weight. In 



THE FEEDING OF THE ANIMAL 251 

general, for horses and cattle, about 18 pounds 
per day of dry matter per 1,000 pounds live 
weight is required for maintenance. 

460. It is from the food eaten in addition to 
that required for maintenance that the profit 
comes to the feeder. Hence, if an animal re- 
ceives no more than enough to sustain life, it 
can produce no profit to its owner. Much less 
is there profit if an animal is allowed to lose 
in weight ; for common experience has shown 
that when an animal is once allowed to suffer 
loss in weight, the loss is regained only at an 
increased expenditure of food above what was 
originally required to produce it. 

461. The amount of food that an animal can 
use profitably over and above that required foi- 
maintenance, depends upon the capacity of the 
animal and the purpose of production. Most 
animals will make a return approximately in 
proportion to the food consumed, up to a cer- 
tain amount. Above that amount, the food 
simply passes through the animal ; or the di- 
gestive apparatus becomes disordered and the 
animal refuses to eat. However, the capacity 
of different animals in this respect varies widely. 

462. Assume that six pounds per day per 
1,000 pounds live weight is about the average 
amount of dry matter that an animal can profit- 
ably use above that required for support. It will 



252 THE principjjKs of agkiculture 

be found that many animals can not profitably use 
more than three or four pounds, while others can 
use from ten to fifteen pounds, and an occasional 
animal can profitably use a still larger amount. 

463. The amount of food that an animal can 
or will eat must not be confounded with the 
amount of food that an animal can profitably 
use. Many animals can and constantly do pass 
through their bodies a considerable amount of 
food of which no use whatever is made, and 
this, too, without interfering in any way with the 
general health, digestive functions, or even with 
the appetite. 

4c. Feeding standards 

464. Feeding standards show the amount and 
proportions of the various nutrients that have 
been found by experience to be best adapted 
to the various purposes. A few are given: 

For Each 1,000 Pounds Live Weight per Day. 





Dry 

matter 


Digestible 
protein 


Digestible 

carbohydrates 

and fat 


Nutritive 
ratio 


Oxen (maintenance) . 


17.5 lbs. 


0.7 lbs. 


8.15 lbs. 


1:12 


Horses at work . . . 


22.5 " 


1.8 " 


11.8 " 


1:7 


Milk cows 


24. " 


2.5 " 
7.5 " 


12.9 " 

30. 


1: 5.4 


Growing pigs (young) 


42. " 


1:4 



465. In any given case, these or any stand- 
ards may be advantageously varied to a con- 
siderable extent. The standards are mere guides. 



THE FEEDING OP THE ANIMAL 253 

The skill of the feeder depends upon his success 
m finding out how far the individual require- 
ments of his animals warrant a variation in the 
standard. 

id. Bulk in the ration 

466. Aside from the amount of digestible 
nutrients and the nutritive ratio, the bulk of 
the ration is a matter of considerable impor- 
tance. It has already been noted (433) that 
considerable portions of all the nutrients are 
not digested. Consequently, in every ration there 
is more or less material of which the animal 
makes no use, and which may be said to merely 
add to the bulk of the ration. Water and fiber 
are, above all other things, the substances which 
give bulk to a fodder or ration. 

467. Fodders which contain large amounts 
of either or both of these substances are said to 
be coarse or bulky ; fodders which have a min- 
imum amount are said to be concentrated. If 
a ration is too bulky, the animal is unable to 
eat enough to obtain sufficient nutrients. On 
the other hand, a ration may be so concentrated 
that the proper amount of digestible nutrients 
do not sufficiently distend the digestive organs 
so that the gastric fluids may fully act. This is 
particularly the case with ruminants (382-384, 
367). 



254 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

468. When the ration is unduly bulky be- 
cause of the presence of large amounts of fiber, 
it is often so unpalatable as not to be readily 
eaten. On the other hand, when water is the 
bulky element, the food is almost always very 
palatable, but the excess of water has a loosen- 
ing and depleting effect upon the digestive sys- 
tem. Under ordinary conditions for ruminants, 
about two -thirds of the dry matter should be 
furnished in the form of coarse forage and one- 
third in concentrated food. For horses at work, 
not more than one -half should be coarse forage, 
while swine and poultry require the ration to be 
in a still more concentrated form. 

4:6. Palatableness 

469. It is found to be profitable to provide, 
even at considerable expense, a certain amount 
of fresh green food for winter feeding, in the 
form of roots or like material, as a tonic to 
appetite and digestion. Silage is now popular. 

470. The palatability of a fodder or ration, — 
that is, the readiness or eagerness with which 
it is eaten, — is a matter of great importance. 
The nutritive effect of a ration often depends 
upon this factor alone. In general, animals 
will make a better return from a ration that 
is palatable, even though it may not be ideally 



THE FEEDING OF THE ANIMAL 255 

perfect according to the standard, than they 
will from a perfectly balanced ration that they 
do not like. In many cases the quality of pala- 
tability is inherent with the fodder, in others 
it is due to the individual whim of the animal. 
It can only be determined for each fodder and 
each animal by actual trial. 

4/. Cooking and preparing the food 

471. Most domestic animals are able to eat 
and digest ordinary forage and grains in their 
natural state. But almost all fodders may be 
prepared in various ways so that mastication 
and digestion are facilitated or palatability in- 
creased. Only upon one point is there general 
agreement — that for most animals it is better that 
the cereal grains be ground before feeding. As 
to the advantages and disadvantages of cutting 
or shredding coarse fodder, and soaking, steam- 
ing and cooking foods, opinion is very much 
divided. 

472. There is probably some economy in 
consumption when coarse fodders are cut or 
shredded. Palatability is often increased by 
soaking, steaming or cooking ; but cooking 
renders albuminoids less digestible, and to that 
extent is a distinct disadvantage. 

473. A certain amount of variety in the 



256 THE PRINCIPLES OB^ AGRICULTUKE 

constituents of the ration is appreciated by 
all animals. If the ration is composed of 
several fodders, these may be mixed in a uni- 
form mass and this mixture fed continuously 
for long periods of time. This is particularly 
true of cattle and swine. 

SUGGESTIONS ON CHAPTER XV 

437a. By-products are secondary products which result from 
the manufacture of a given product. Thus, buttermilk and skim- 
med milk are by-products of butter-making, whey of cheese- 
making, pomace of cider-making, bran of flour-making. Many 
important by-products used in feeding animals result from the 
manufacture of breakfast cereals, the manufacture of glucose 
syrups, and the processes of brewing and distilling. 

442rt. The group takes its name from albumin, which is seen 
in its purest and most common form in the white of egg. 
The gluten or sticky part of the wheat kernel, the casein or 
cheesy part of milk, and the muscular fibers of lean meat, are 
also familiar examples of albuminoids. From the many forms 
they assume, they are often spoken of as protein compounds, or 
proteids. They are also often called nitrogenous substances (370). 

443a. The albuminoids are necessary to all the processes of 
growth and reproduction ; and since most animal products, as 
wool, flesh, eggs and milk, contain large amounts of nitrog- 
enous matter, the albuminoids are likewise essential to pro- 
duction as well as growth. When the members of this group 
are decomposed or broken down, they give up heat, and, there- 
fore, may be used to keep the animal warm (372 J. It is not 
at all uncertain that they are not concerned in the forma- 
tion and storing up of fat in the tissues and milk. 

445rt. The word carbohydrate (written also earbhydrate) 
means carbon -hydrate. The word hydrate signifies a substance 
in which water combines with some other element : in the carbo- 
hydrates, this other element is carbon. In all the carbohydrates, 



THE FEEDING OP THE ANIMAL 



257 



the oxygen and hydrogen are in the proportions in which they 
occur in water, — two atoms of hydrogen to one of oxygen (H2O 
is water. 1305). The carbo- 
hydrates are sometimes called 
amyloids, — that is, starch-like 
materials. 

453rt. The determination 
of the nutritive ratio is very 
simple. For example : clover 
hay of average quality con- 
tains say 7A% of digestible 
protein, 11.7% of digestible 
fiber, 26.2% of digestible car- 
bohydrates other than fiber, 
and 1.9% of digestible fat. 
Then 2X times 1.9 is 4.3 ; 
to this is added 11.7 and 26.3, 
making in all 42.3, or the 
starch -equivalent of all the 
heat- and fat-forming nutri- 
ents. Then 42.3 divided by 
7.4 equals 5.7. The nutritive 
ratio of clover hay is, there- 
fore, 1:5.7. 

458rt. The results obtained 
from any food depend in large 
measure upon the 
housing and care 
which the animal re- 



Pig 90 

A cheap and 

efficient 

silo. 




25S 'l"HK PKINCUPLES Ol' AGlilCUlVrUKE 

ceives. Stock should have warm, airy, light, clean, sweet stables 
(see Fig 32, p. 86); and in cold weather the drinking water 
should be slightly warmed. Stock should not be turned out on 
cold and blustery days, and a covered yard (Fig. 30) should be 
provided. To endeavor to secure good results in feeding ani- 
mals which are cold and uncomfortable is like trying to heat a 
house with the windows open. 

469a. Our domestic animals while in a wild state depended 
tor existence almost wholly upon green forage. This trait 
survives, in the fact that in many cases animals will make a 
larger return for a given amount of nutrients when given green 
and fresh food than they will for the same nutrients when dry. 

4696. Silage (not ensilage) is forage preserved in a green and 
succulent condition. It is preserved by being kept in a tight 
receptacle, from which air and germs are excluded as much as 
possible. This receptacle is called a silo. Maize (corn-fodder) 
is the most popular silage material. It is cut into lengths of 
an inch or two and immediately placed in the silo, being 
firmly tramped and compacted, and the mass then covered with 
straw, hay, boards, or other material. Circular silos are best 
because the material settles evenly all around. Fig. 90 shows 
a very economical silo at Cornell University. It is 12 feet in 
diameter and 24 feet high, and rests on a cement floor. It is 
made of lumber 24 feet long, 6 inches wide and 2 inches thick, 
the edges not bevelled. The pieces are held together by sec 
tions of woven fence-wire, drawn together by means of screw 
clamps. There is no framework. Silage is useful as a part of 
the daily ration, but it is easy to feed it to excess. Forty pounds 
a day is usually sufficient for a cow in full milk. 

473a. Persons who desire to pursue these subjects furthe" 
should consult Henry's "Feeds and Feeding," and Armsby's 
"Manual of Cattle Feeding;" also Jordan's "Feeding of Animals." 



Chapter XVI 
THE MANAGEMENT OF STOCK 

/. p. ROBERTS 

1. The Breeding of Stock 

1</. What is meant by breeding 

474. Animals grow old and die, or they are 
slaughtered for food. Other animals are born 
and take their places. Not only is a new ani- 
mal born, but every pair of animals is able to 
produce more than two : that is, the total num- 
ber of animals increases. This birth and multi- 
plication is known as propagation. 

475. But it is not enough that new animals 
and more of them shall appear : these new 
animals must ])e desirable. They must have 
certain attributes or characters which make 
them valuable. In order that these desirable 
(jualities shall arise, the stockman selects cer- 
tain animals to propagate the race ; and this 
control of the kind of offspring which shall 
appear is known as breeding. 

476. Breeding may have two objects : to 

(259) 



260 THE PRINCIPLES OP AGRICULTURE 

maintain or reproduce the given type or breed ; 
to produce a new type or breed. One may have 
small red cows, and desire to produce others like 
them, or with some improvement on the same 
lines ; or he may wish from these animals to 
produce large red cows. In the former case, he 
maintains his type ; in the latter, he produces a 
new type. 

477. A breed is a general race or type which 
reproduces itself more or less closely. It is 
analagous to a variety in plants. Among 
cattle, there are such breeds as Short- horns. 
Jerseys, Devons, Holsteins ; among fowls, such 
as Bantams, Plymouth Rocks, Wyandottes, 
Shanghais. The person who guides and con- 
trols the propagation of animals is known as 
a breeder. 

lb. The mental ideal 

478. The first principle in breeding is to 
know what qualities one wants to secure. The 
breeder must have a distinct ideal in mind. 

479. Many ideals are impracticable. In order 
to be practicable or useful, the ideal must be 
governed by two factors : the person must know 
the characteristics of the class of animals with 
which he is working ; he must know which 
qualities are most likely to be carried over to 



THE MANAGEMENT OP STOCK 261 

the offspring, or be perpetuated. Both of these 
factors ai'e determined by experience. 

480. The ideal type of animal varies with the 
uses to which the animal is to be put and with 
the breed. The points of merit in a dairy cow 
(one which is raised chiefly for the production 
of milk) are unlike the points in an ideal beef 
animal. The points in an ideal Short-horn are 
unlike those in an ideal Ayrshire. 

481. Animals are judged by their general 
form, the texture of hide and hair, framework 
or bony structure, their motions, and dispositions, 
their performance and their products. 

Ic. How to attain the ideal 

482. Having learned what the ideal animal 
should be, the breeder strives to secure that ideal 
by breeding onl}^ from those animals which most 
nearly approach the ideal. 

483. Animals vary in their power to trans- 
mit their own features to their offspring. Some 
animals, without any visible cause, possess the 
power of transmitting their own characteristics 
to an unusual degree. Such animals are said 
to be prepotent. Inferior animals may be pre- 
potent, as well as superior ones. It is impor- 
tant, then, to discover beforehand if an animal 
is prepotent, or is what stockmen call a "good 



262 THE J'UlXCirLES of agkioulture 

breeder;" although prepotency can be positively 
known only by the character of the offspring. 

484. The following are more or less certain 
indications of prepotency: the eyes are bright, 
wide open, alert, fairly wide apart and somewhat 
protruding, or the reverse of sunken. The hair 
is ^fine and soft, the skin neither thick and 
leathery nor too thin or ''papery," nor of flabby 
structure. The bones are of moderate size and 
have the appearance of being fine grained and 
strong, as indicated by head, limbs, feet and 
horns. Such animals are usually symmetrical, 
although they may not be fat. In of all theii- 
movements they are vigorous, alert and powerful 
and, above all, courageous. 

485. Now and then a "sport" appears, — an 
animal which has some new or strange feature, 
something that we have rarely or never seen 
before in that breed (as a hornless or muley 
animal amongst normally horned animals) . Such 
occasional characters are usually not easily per- 
petuated, though sports have been the origin of 
many stable types, especially among plants. Per- 
manent improvement is more likely to be secured 
by slow, small, steady augmentation, not by leaps 
and bounds. 

486. The longer any line of animals is bred 
to a single ideal or standard, the more uniform 
the animals become. The breed or the familv 



THE MANAGEMENT OF STOCK 26.'] 

becomes "fixed." The record of this long line 
of breeding is known as the pedigree. The 
longer the pedigree, the greater is the likeli- 
hood that the animal will reproduce its charac- 
ters; that is, characteristics which have been 
long present are more potent than those which 
are recently acquired. Hence, a long pedigree 
should indicate more value than a short pedigree. 

487. For the general farmer, it is unwise to 
buy a herd of puro-blood stock, unless the object 
is to breed pure-blood stock for sale. The breed- 
ing of pure -blood animals is a business by itself, 
and few persons are competent to succeed in it. 
But every farmer can greatly improve his stock, 
if he starts with and constantly uses a good pure- 
blood male mated with good native females. 
From the grades so produced improvement will 
be rapid and sure if the poorest are constantly 
sold and only the best bred from. 

2. Where Stock-raising Is Advisable 

488. Having now considered some of the 
principles involved in securing good stock, we 
may next inquire in what regions and under 
what conditions it can be raised profitably. 
Live-stock raising is particularly advantageous 
on the cheap, unoccupied and uncultivable lands 
of the West and South. In those regions, stock 



264 THE PRINCIPLES OP AGRICULTURE 

must depend largely or entirely on the natural 
forage, which is sometimes good and sometimes 
extremely poor and meager. It may require ten 
to twenty acres to support a single cow or steer 
for a year. If the "range" is eaten off closely 
during the summer, the animals perish in the 
winter. In the dry and nearly snowless districts 
of the West, animals may subsist in the winter 
on the mature dead grasses. Since the rainfall 
is light, these matured grasses, or natural hay, 
retain most of their nutrient qualities. 

489. In narrow, sheltered northern valleys 
surrounded by grass -covered, rolling hillsides, 
where the cereals cannot be raised to advantage, 
live-stock finds congenial surroundings. In such 
regions, for many years, was the center and 
home of the dairy industries. Within the last 
twenty years the areas in which butter, cheese 
and milk have been produced in large quantities 
for city consumption and export have become 
greatly enlarged and multiplied ; and many 
whole farms, formerly used for the production 
of the cereals, especially of maize, are now con- 
ducted as dairy farms. 

490. On high-priced land near the markets, 
comparatively little live-stock will be kept, since 
the manures necessary to keep the soil fairly 
productive and filled with humus can be easily 
brought from the cities. The teams which 



THE MANAGEMENT OF STOCK 265 

transport the products to the markets often 
return loaded with the refuse of the city stables. 
There is little opportunity for the production of 
live-stock on the market -garden farm. Where 
intensive agriculture (Ilia) is carried on, a few 
animals to consume the refuse, in addition to 
the "work stock," may be kept to advantage. 
Swine are often a useful adjunct to market- 
garden farms. 

491. But perhaps the place above all others 
where live-stock finds the best conditions, and 
where it is most likely to be improved from 
generation to generation, is upon the rich, level 
farms which are adapted to many kinds of 
crops. Lands which are capable of producing 
cereals, grasses, fruits, vegetables, flowers and 
animals should be prized highly. On such lands 
is offered the greatest opportunity for the high- 
est agriculture. Diversified agriculture, with one 
or two somewhat specialized crops, leads to 
steady and certain income, gives opportunity 
for furnishing continuous employment for both 
men and teams, and in all ways tends to 
economy of time and effort (354a). 

3. How Much Stock May Be Kept 

492. Cheap transportation, refrigerator cars, 
and the silo, have made it possible to produce 



266 THE PRINCIPLES OP AGRICULTURE 

and send dairy products to market from dis- 
tricts far removed from the great cities and the 
seaboard, at a profit. On the rich prairies, 
wherever maize will flourish, one thousand 
pounds of live stock, or one large dairy cow, 
may be carried for every two acres of fairly 
good arable land. In some cases, sdme extra 
concentrated foods may be required, if the ani- 
mals are kept up to their full capacity for 
growth and production. 

493. On farms of the East, where a large 
percentage of the land must be devoted to per- 
manent pasture because it is steep and stony, 
one animal of one thousand pounds to two acres 
cannot be carried unless considerable concen- 
trated food is purchased. 

494. There are two methods respecting the 
number of animals to be kept on a farm. One 
method requires that food be bought. The other 
method is to keep only so many animals as can 
be maintained by home resources. On lands 
Jiaturally fertile, and on those which have been 
wisely managed, this latter practice is to bo 
commended. It may be said, however, that if 
the stockman can secure increased profits by 
risking something for extra food, he should take 
advantage of it ; but most farmers had better 
not assume many risks. 

495. We may now speak of the practice of 



THE MANAGKxMENT OF STOCK 267 

purchasing most of the grain or other concen- 
trated food which is required. These foods are 
mostly by-products (437«), such as bran, oil- 
meal, cotton -seed meal, and the gluten meals. 
It is said that it is cheaper to purchase con- 
centrated foods than to produce them on the 
farm, and much stress is laid on the resultant 
plant- food or manure which is secured from 
feeding these products. 

496. A ton of wheat bran contains the fol- 
lowing amounts of potential pi ant -food in every 
thousand pounds : 

26.7 lbs. nitrogeu 

28.9 " phosphoric acid 

16.1 " potash 

This would seem to indicate that a thousand 
pounds of bran would be worth, for manurial 
purposes, $5.57, or $11.14 per ton — computing 
the nitrogen at 12 cents, phosphoric acid at 6 
cents and the potash at 4 cents per pound. 

497. If the bran is fed to milch cows, it is 
estimated that not less than 50 per cent of the 
plant-food constituents of the food will be found 
in the manure. If this be so, then the manure 
which is the result of feeding one thousand 
pounds of bran would be worth $2.79, or from 
feeding a ton of bran, $5.58. If the bran be 
fed to animals that neither gain nor lose, and 
are not producing milk or other products, then 



268 THK PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

nearly all of the manurial constituents of the 
food are found in the excrements. 

498. This practice of purchasing food would 
appear to be wise on a farm poorly supplied 
with plant- food. It may be assumed that the 
increase in growth, or the products secui-ed from 
the animals which consume these purchased 
foods, would equal or exceed the cost of such 
foods. If so, the value of the excrements would 
be clear additional profit. 

499. In practice, however, it is found that 
the purchase of these supplemental foods be- 
comes necessary largely because a wise use has 
not been made of the land. If need of these 
purchased foods arises because but a half crop 
is secured instead of a full one, then greater 
attention should be given to making the land 
more productive. In many cases, the purchased 
foods are required because the production of 
grasses and the other forage plants has been 
neglected. Full crops and wisely purchased 
concentrated foods lead directly to the im- 
provement of animals and land, and, therefore, 
to permanent prosperity. 

500. When the coarser products are used 
for food and bedding, and a goodly portion of 
the grains are fed at home, it is possible, with 
care, to return to the fields three- fourths of all 
the plant- food which is removed from the fields 



THE MANAGEMENT OF STOCK 269 

to the barns in the crops. The ease with which 
a farm may be maintained on a high plane of 
productiveness when animals are made promi- 
nent, and the difficulty of maintaining high 
productivity when they are wanting, should 
emphasize the part which the animal plays in 
securing the best results. 

4. Tlie Care of Stock 
4a. Housing 

501. Every effort should be exerted to make 
the animals comfortable. Otherwise, they cannot 
do their best. Animals, like jieople, are most 
useful when they are happy. Provide them 
good quarters. As to the style and kind of 
barns, it matters little so long as the desired 
results are secured. 

502. Animals need much air. A single cow 
requires in twenty-four hours 3,125 cubic feet; 
that is, all of the air which would be contained 
in a box- stall about 13 feet by 17% feet by 10 
feet, if she has a full supply. As a matter of 
practice, however, a cow is allowed about 400 
cubic feet of air. Twice as much air space 
should be provided in the horse stable as in the 
cow stable. 

503. In the barn, free circulation of air is 
restricted ; therefore, provision should be made 
for ventilation. Large amounts of air introduced 



270 THE PRINCIPLES OP A(4KICULTURE 

at few points create dangerous drafts. Air 
should be taken into and removed from the 
stable in many small streams. If the stable is 
over -ventilated, it may become too cold. If at 
least one cubic foot of air space is allowed in 
the stable for each pound of live animal kept 
in it, the air will not have to be changed so 
often as when the animals are so crowded, — as 
is often the case, — that only one -half to one- 
fourth as much air space is provided. 

504. A barn with a wall roughly boarded, 
both inside and outside, and the space filled with 
straw, furnishes nearly ideal conditions, since 
the air will be strained gently through the 
straw. This ventilation should be supplemented 
by a few small, easily controlled openings. 
Stables should not be kept above 50 degrees 
nor fall below 32 degrees, for any considerable 
length of time. 

505. Abundant provision should be made for 
the Ingress of light. It is best if the light is 
admitted at the rear of the animal, especially 
for horses. Provision should also be made fpr 
temporarily storing the excrements, both to keep 
the stable clean and to prevent loss of the val- 
uable constituents of the manures. No excre- 
ments should be thrown out of the windows or 
doors of the stable into the open weather, where 
they form a nuisance and are wasted (120, VlOa). 



THE \lANA(iKMKNT OK STOCK 27] 



46 . Water 



506. All nutriment is carried into the system, 
and through it, by means of water. Since 
water is the universal carrier, it should ever 
be present in the animal tissues in quantities 
sufficient to accomplish the desired results. Ani- 
mals should have water at least twice a day. 

507. Animals fed a narrow ration (453) re- 
quire more water than those which are fed a 
wide ration. A cow in milk may require from 
fifty to eighty pounds of water daily. If the water 
is freezing cold, she will not drink freely and the 
production of milk will be reduced. Moreover, 
the water must be raised to the temperature of 
the body by the heat generated in the animal. 
This may require a part of the energy of the food 
which might otherwise have been turned to some 
useful purpose. If water at a temperature of about 
60°F. is provided for the stock in cold weather, the 
animals will not only enjoy it, but will not re- 
quire as much food as when compelled to drink 
water near the freezing point. In 'large herds, 
coal may well be substituted for meal in heating 
the drinking water. 

4c. Food 

508. So many varieties of acceptable cattle 
foods can be secured cheaply in America, that 



272 THE PRINCIPLES OP AGRICULTURE 

full opportunity is offered for selecting those 
which give promise of producing the particular 
results desired in any given case. Animals 
which are used continuously at hard work 
require a wide or carbonaceous ration to sup- 
ply energy. Young animals do best on a narrow 
or nitrogenous ration. Milch cows do best on 
intermediate rations. Cold stables imply a wide 
ration ; warm stables, narrow rations. The food 
of young herbivorous animals, of those that 
work, and of cows in milk, may be made up of 
about one pound of grains or other concentrated 
foods to three pounds of roughage. 

509. The amount of the ration and the time 
of feeding should be governed according to the 
character and habits of the animal. Horses 
should be fed more often than cattle and 
sheep, since their stomachs are relatively small. 
Horses are inclined to eat at night. Cattle, 
sheep and swine seldom eat after dark. 

510. The ration for any one meal should not 
be so liberal as to injure the appetite for the 
one that follows. Regularity in time of feeding, 
and skill in presenting the food in an appetizing 
form, are prime factors of success. 

SUGGESTIONS ON CHAPTER XVI 

479rt. The breeder must know the names of the various 
parts of the animal. The parts of a dairy cow are designated 



THE MANA(^EMENT OF STOCK 



273 



in Fig. 91, which represents a "typical Holstein-Friesian cow:" 
1, head ; 2, forehead ; 3, eyes ; 4, face ; 5, muzzle ; 6, ear ; 7, 
horn ; 8, neck ; 9, throat ; 10, shoulder ; 11, shoulder tops, or 
withers ; 12, chest : 13, crops ; 14, chine ; 15, back ; 16, loin ; 
17, hip or hook ; 18, rump ; 19, thurl or pin-hone ; 20, quarter : 
21, thigh ; 22, hock ; 23, leg ; 24, forearm ; 25, hoof : 26, fore- 




Fig. 01. I)i:igram to sliow the parts of a dairy eow to which distinctive 
names have been given. 

ribs; 27, back-ribs; 28, flank; 29, belly; 30, fore - flank ; 31, 
stifle ; 32, tail ; 33, switch ; 34, udder ; 35, setting of tail ; 36, 
quarters of udder ; 37, teats. The dewlap is the flap of the 
throat below 9. The escutcheon is the part surrounding the 
udder behind, on which the hair grows upwards. 

480rt. Following is the ideal of a daily cow (compare Fig. 
92) : The cow should have a small head, a large muzzle and 
mouth, a clean-cut nose or face, that is, one free from fleshy 
growth, a straight or dishing forehead, bright prominent eyes, 
and a thin, long neck and moderate -sized horns. She may be 
from one to two inches lower at the shoulders than at the hips. 
Her general form, when looked at from the side, should be 
wedgfe- shape, and the same shape should be apparent when 
viewed from the reai'. The shoulders may be thin, lean and 
bony ; the back rather long and rugged ; the loin fairly broad, 
but not too broad, or the animal will tend to put on beef. The 



K 



274 



THK I'RINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 



hip should be thrown well ahead, which gives a long, powerful 
hind quarter. The thighs, of necessity, are thin ; the flank 
well up ; the hind leg, usually, quite crooked, and the tail long. 
If the tail be long, it is an indication that the vertebrae of the 
back bone are somewhat loosely united, which is an indication 
of good milking qualities. The pony-built, smooth-made, short- 
bodied, rotund cow is seldom a good milker. The teats should 
be sizeable and placed wide apart ; the lirabs neither too small nor 




Fig. 92. An ideal dairy eovv. 



too large. The udder should not be very pendent or loose, and 
should extend well to the rear, also well to the front, and should 
have a broad and firm setting on the abdomen. The animal should 
have a rugged, rather lean, but not a delicate appearance. All 
animals, except those kept for speed, should have rather short 
limbs, as this indicates, to some extent, constitution and power. 
It will be noticed (Fig. 92) that the milk veins, which extend 
from the udder forward on the abdomen, are large and promi- 
nent. These indicate that the cow is a great milker or, in other 
words, tliat an ample supply of blood has been furnished to the 
udder by the arteries, and hence a large amount of blood must 



THt; MANAGEMENT OF STOCK 275 

be returned through the veins. In time, the veins enlarge in 
order to make room for the return of the blood from the udder. 
In some of the better milking strains, these large veins are in- 
herited, and can be seen and felt on young animals which have 
never given milk. 

480&. Contrast the ideal points of the beef animal. This 
animal, like the milch animal, should have a small head and 
horns, and be light in the throat-latch. If the neck, legs and 
tail be removed from the beef animal, the body is almost a per- 
fect parallelogram. The neck is short and very heavy where 
it is set onto the shoulder, the back straight, thighs built well 
out at the rear, and thick. The body of the animal is more 
rounded, the short riV>s or loin is broad, the flank is well 
down, the shoulders are heavy and well covered with meat, 
the floor of the chest broad, which places the front legs wide 
apart. The whole structure of the animal indicates slowness of 
motion, quietness, and a disposition to lay on flesh and fat, or 
in other words, to be selfish. No milk veins appear, the tail 
is shorter than the milch cow's, and the receptacle for milk 
small. As a rule, the beef animal has a softer and more velvety 
touch than the dairy animal, since the one is usually fat and the 
other lean. A strong, low brisket (the hanging part between the 
fore legs) is desired, not because the flesh of it is good, for it 
is quite inferior, but because it is an outward indication of su- 
perior feeding qualities. It will be noticed that in the dairy 
cow the brisket is prominent, but thin. It indicates good feed- 
ing qualities : that is, a good appetite and power to digest and 
assimilate food. True, it seems to have no direct connection 
with the production of milk, but animals which are markedly 
deficient in brisket and thin in the waist usually have delicate 
constitutions and precarious appetites. 

480c. A moderately thick, elastic skin and soft, velvety hair 
are much desired, not only in cattle but in horses. A thin or 
papery skin denotes lack of constitution. A thick, inelastic skin 
denotes unresponsiveness in the production of either milk or beef. 

480f?. With these ideals for cattle, compare some of the 
points of excellence in a trotting horse : The front legs have 



276 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

a loug, low, rhythmic motion when tlie animal is alert, while the 
hind quarters are lowered and widened, and the hind legs, with 
their wide, all-embracing sweep, show how and where the great 
propelling power is located. 

481a. The scoring of animals is a matter of ideals. The person 
assumes that a total of 100 points represents the' perfect animal, 
each part or quality being represented by a certain figure. 
Any animal may then be judged (as at a fair) by this standard 
or score. Definite scores have been adopted by various breeders' 
associations, colleges, etc. For illustration, two scores are now given. 

■iSlb. Following is the score for a dairy cow used by the 
College of Agriculture, Cornell University: 

General Appearance : 

Weight, estimateil lbs. ; actual lbs. 

Form, wedge shape as viewed from front, side and top.. .t 
Quality, hair fine, soft ; skin mellow, loose, medium 

thickness, secretion yellow ; bone clean 8 

Constitution, vigorous, not inclined to beefiness 8 

Head and Neck : 

Muzzle, clean cut ; mouth large ; nostrils large 1 

Eyes, large, bright 1 

Face, lean, long ; quiet expression 1 

Forehead, broad, slightly dished 1 

Ears, medium size ; yellow inside, 'fine texture 1 

Neck, fine, medium length ; throat clean ; light dewlap.. , 2 

Fore and Hind Quarter.s : 

Withers, lean, thin 1 

Shoulders, light, oblique 2 

Hips, far apart ; level between hooks 2 

liuitip, long, wide 2 

Pin-bones or thurls, high, wide apart 1 

Thighs, thiu , long 2 

Legs, straight, short ; shank fine 1 

Tail, long, slim ; fine switch 1 

Body: 

Chest, deep, low ; girth large 8 

Kibs, broad, well sprung, long, wide .-ipart: large stomach. 5 

Hack, lean, straight, chine open li 

Ijoin, broad, level 2 

Flank, moderately low 1 

Navel, ]ar{H' 1 



THK MANA(iK.MENl" OF STOCK 277 

MlLK-SECRETlNG ORGANS : 

Udder, long, attached high and full behind, extending far 

in front and full ; quarters even 15 

Udder, capacious, flexible, with loose, pliable skin covered 

with short, fine hair i:i 

Teats, large, evenly placed 4 

Milk veins, large, tortuous, large milk wells 6 

Escutcheon, spreading over thighs, extending high .•ind 

wide ; large thigh ovals ■_' 

Total 100 

481c. The score for a beef steer as used by the Department 
of Agriculture, University of Wisconsin, is the following : 

General Appearance : 

Weight, estimated lbs. ; according to age. . 6 

Form, straight top-line and under-line ; deep, broad, low, 

set stj-lish 8 

Quality, firm handling ; hair fine ; pliable skin ; dense 

bone ; evenly fleshed 8 

Temperament, quiet 5 

Head and Neck : 

Ifwzzfe, mouth large ; lips thin ; nostrils large 1 

Eyes, large, clear, placid 1 

Face, short ; quiet expression 1 

Forehead, broad, fvill 1 

Ears, medium size, fine texture 1 

Xeck, thick, short : throat clean '> 

Fore Quarters -. 

Shoulder Vein, full :! 

Shoulder, covered with flesh, compact on toi) ; snug 4 

Brisket, advanced, breast wide 1! 

Dewlap, skin not too loose and drooping 1 

Legs, straight, short ; arm full : shank fine, smooth ',', 



Bouv 



Chest, full, deep, wide ; girth large ; crops full 8 

Ribs, long, arched, thickly fleshed 

Back, broad, straight 6 

Loin, thick, broad 5 

Flank, full, even with under-line 4 



278 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGKKJPLTURE 

Hind Quarters : 

Hips, smoothly covered ; distauee apart in proportion 

with other parts 4 

Rump, long, even, wide, tail head smooth, not patchy 5 

Pin-hones, not prominent, far apart 3 

Thighs, full 3 

Twist, deep, plump 4 

Purse, full, indicating fleshiness 2 

Legs, straight, short, shank fine, smooth 3 

Total 100 



486a. A correct, lon^ pedigree is also evidence that no 
crosses outside of tlie breed have been made within the time 
covered by the record. Then the longer the pedigree, the longer 
the time which has elapsed since the breed was formed. Many 
breeds, as Shropshires, Berkshires and the like, start from mixed- 
blood animals more or less remote. The term "pure breed" 
simply means that a breed of animals has been bred so long 
within the variety that a fair degree of uniformity in all lead- 
ing characteristics has been secured, and power acquired to 
transmit the leading qualities with a fair degree of certainty. 

487rt. If the farmer has a dairy, let him resolve to breed 
from no animal which gives less than 4,000 pounds of milk a 
year. Animals which give less than this amount are often 
kept at a loss, and they should be disposed of at once. Eveiy 
dairyman should also test his milk for richness, by means of 
the Babcock test. Read Wing's "MilTc and Its Products," for 
instruction on the Babcoek milk test, and other matters of 
dairying. 

491 rt. There is a marked tendency for farmers to run too 
much to one thing, . following the lead of some person who has 
been successful in a particular line. In some localities in the 
East, especially in the great grajie and hop districts, the ill 
effects of specialized agriculture are often seen. When grapes 
and hops bring prices which barely pay for picking them, — and 
this not infrequently occurs, — the farmer becomes discouraged, 
neglects his plantations, and when prices rise to the point where 
profits should be received, the yield per acre falls so low by 



THE MANAGEMENT OF STOCK 279 

reason of the neglect that no financial recovery is possible. In 
these districts live stock should play an important part. 

4916. It is found that wherever the areas of special crops 
are restricted, and rotation and mixed husbandry are not 
seriously disturbed, fair profits are realized every year, and the 
average yields of grapes or hops per acre are much above the 
average of the large plantations. Specialization is seen to have 
a marked, deleterious effect on the youth of the districts where 
it is practiced in a large way, and often on the productivity of 
the soil as well. The introduction of domestic animals in con- 
siderable numbers tends to change all this. Moreover, the ele- 
vating effect of coming into immediate contact with animal life, 
especially on the young, should be understood and prized. 

500a. A crop of 50 bushels of maize per acre, and the 
accompanying stalks, contains about 64 pounds of nitrogen, 24 
pounds of phosphoric acid and 36 pounds of potash. If, when 
fed to animals, only one-half of the plant-food removed by the 
ci'op is returned,, then but 32 pounds of nitrogen, 12 pounds of 
phosphoric acid, and 18 pounds of potash will be lost from each 
acre. When clover is in the rotation, it will restore most of 
this lost nitrogen. The plant precedes the animal. He who 
has mastered the art of producing plants successfully has 
learned more than half of agriculture. 

5006. Animals play such an important part in maintaining 
the productivity of the land that he who farms without giving 
them a prominent place should be able to furnish good reasons 
for so doing. 

510a. Remember that thoughtful care, solicitude, love for 
the animal, and timely attention to the many details, play an 
important part in animal industry. That which is gained by 
superior breeding, food and comfortable buildings may be 
partly lost if kindness is wanting. "Speak to the animals as 
you should to a lady, kindly." 




Fig. 93. The head of the flock. 



GLOSSARY 

{Ntimbers refer to Paragraphs.) 

jEsthetic. Appealing to the faculties of taste, as of color, music. 

Agriculture. Farming. 1, !«. 

Albumin. A nitrogenous organic compound, present in both plants and 

animals. 370, 442«. 
Aliment. Food. 

Alimentary canal. The digestive channel or tract. 377. 
Ameliorate. To improve. 
Amenable. Open to, liable to : a loose soil is amenable to the action of 

air, but a very hard soil is not. 
Amendment. A substance which influences the texture rather than the 

plant-food of the soil. 58. 
Annual. A plant which lives only one year. Beans and pigweeds are 

examples. 
Antiseptic. A substance which kills germs or microbes. 284a, 387a. 
Available. Capable of being used ; usable. 436. 
Axil. Angle above the junction of a leaf-stalk, flower-stalk, or branch 

with its parent stem. 
Biennial. A plant which lives two years. It usually blooms and seeds 

the second year. Mulleins and parsnips are examples. 
Botany. Knowledge and science of plants. 1('>. 
Breaking down. Said of hai"d soils when tlicy become mellow and 

crumbly. 
Budding. A kind of grafting, in which the cion or bud is very short, 

and inserted under the bark or on the wood of the stock (not into 

the wood). 
By-product. A product incidentally resulting from the manufacture of 

something else. 437a, 495. 
Callus. The healing tissue on a wound. 234. 
Capillary. Hair-like. Said of very thin or fine channels, especially 

those in which water moves by the force of capillary attraction. 
Vdrhohydrate. An organic or carbon compound, in which hydrogen 

and oxygen occur in the same pi'oportions as they do in water. 

Sugar, starch, woody fiber are carbohydrates. •197rt. 

(281) 



282 GLOSSARY 

Carbon. A gas, C, existing in small quiutities in the atmosphere ; 
also in a solid form in charcoal and the diamond. 

Carbon dioxid. A gas, CO 2; carbonic acid gas. 

Carnivorous. Feeding on flesh. 174. 

Casein. Milk curd, the chief albuminoid of milk. It is the main con- 
stituent of cheese. 370. 

Catch-crop. A crop grown between plants of a regular crop, in the 
interval of time between regular crops. 109. 

Cereal. A grain belonging to the grass family, as wheat, maize, rice, 
oats, barley, rye. 

Chemistry. That science which treats of composition of niatter. 18- 

Chlorophyll. The green niatter in plants. 108, 198rt. 

Clan. A part of a plant inserted in a plant, with the intention that it 
shall grow. 23G. 

Climatology. Knowledge and science of climate. It includes the 
science of weather (local climate) or meteorology. 19. 

Coagtilate. To curdle; as of milk. 

Coldframe. A glass-covered box or frame which is heated by the 
sun, and in which plants are grown or kept. 

Coming true. Reproducing the variety. 215a, 227. 

Comminute. To break up, tine, pulverize. 29a. 

Compost. Rotted organic matter. 34a. 

Conservation. Saving. 82. 

Cover-crop. A catch-crop which is designed to cover the soil in fall, 
winter and early spring. 109, 116. 

Cultivator. An implement which prepares the surface of the ground 
by turning it or lifting it. The spring-tooth harrow is really a 
cultivator. 

Cutting. A part of a plant inserted in soil or other medium with the 
intention that it shall grow and make another plant; slip. 231. 

Dehorning. Removing the horns from animals. 120«. 

Dependent. Depending on other means than its own, as on the con- 
ditions in which it lives. 182. 

Denude. To strip, to make bare, to wash away. 266. 

Dormant. Latent, sleeping, not active. 

Drought. A very dry spell or season. 

Ecology. The science which treats of the inter-relationships of ani- 
mals and plants, and of their relations to their environments. 
The study of the habits and modes of life of organisms. The 
migrations of birds, distribution of plants, nesting habits of 
bumble-bees, are subjects of ecology. Often spelled oecology. 16a. 



GLOSSARY 283 

Ulement. A substance which is composed ot nothing else; an original 
form of matter. 127a. 

Emulsion. A more or less permanent and diffusible combination of 
oils or fats and water. 396, 396a. 

Energy. Power ; force. Every moving, changing or vibrating body or 
agent expends energy or force ; and this force is transferred to 
some other body or form, for nothing is lost. The energy of sun- 
light is expressed in heat, light, and other waj's. The energy 
that is required to produce the food is expended as bodily heat, 
muscular or nervous energj-, and in other ways. 

IJntomoJogy. Science ot insects. 

Environment. The surroundings of an animal or plant, — the conditions 
in which it lives. Comprises climate, soil, moisture, altitude, 
etc. 166. 

Erosion. Wearing away; denudation. 

Evolution. The doctrine that the present kinds of plants and animals 
are derived, or evolved, from other previous kinds. 

Excretion. A secretion which is of no further use to the animal or 
plant, and which is thrown off ; as sweat. 363a. 

Extraneous. External ; from the outside ; foreign to. 54, u9. 

Extrinsic. Secondary, external, from the outside. The apple has 
extrinsic value, — that is, it is valuable as a marketable or money- 
getting article, aside from its value as nourishment. See intrinsic. 

Eye. A bud ; a cutting of a single bud. 23.5. 

Farm-practice. The management of the farm ; the practical side of 
farming. It comprises the handling of land, tools, plants, ani- 
mals. 11. 

Farmstead. A farm home or establishment. 

Feeding standard. The ideal amount and (luality of food for a given 
purpose. 464. 

Fermentation. The process by means of which starch, sugar, casein, 
and other organic substances are changed or broken down, and 
new combinations made. It is usually attended with heat and the 
giving off of gas. 

Fertility. Ability of the land to produce plants. ]0,"). 

Fiber. Elongated or string-like tissues. 

Fibrin. An insoluble h;:t digestible albuminoid. It is present in 
blood-clots. 

Flocculate. To make granular or crumbly. r>8a. 

Fodder. Food for animals. 428. 

Forage. Plants which are fed to animals in their natural condition, or 
when merely dried. 330. 



284 (iLOSSAKY 

Free water. Standing water, or that moving under the influence of 
gravitation, as distinguished from that held by capillary attrac- 
tion. G4, 65, 78. 

Function. The particular or appointed action of anj' organ or part. 
The function of the eye is vision ; that of the heart is distributing 
the blood ; that of the root is taking in food. What an organ does. 

Fungicide. A substance which kills fungi. 298. 

Furrow. The trench left by the plow. ^\ii. [!»1, 91(i. 

Fnrroiv-slice. The strip of earth which is turned over by the plow. 

Gang-plow. An implement comprising two or more individual plows. 
Figs. 64, 65. 

Geology. The science cf the formation of the crust of the earth. '10. 

Germ. See micro-organism. 

Glacier. A slowly moving field or mass of ice ; a frozen stream. 

Glands. Secreting organs. .%.3?<. [.S9, .'!9<(. 

Gluten. The soluble nitrogenous part of flour. .'iTO. 

Glycogen. A starch, or starch-like material, formed in the animal body, 
and from which sugar is formed. 364, :{64«. 

Grafting. The practice of insei'ting a cion or liud in a plant. '2.{6. 

Grazing. Pasturing. 

Green-crops. Crops designed to ))e plowed under for the {)urpose ol 
improving the soil. 74, 109. 

Hard-pan. Hard, retentive subsoil. 94((. 

Harrow. An implement which pulverizes the surface of the ground 
without inverting it or lifting it. 

Heading-in. Cutting back the tips or ends of branches. 288. 

Heavy soils. Soils which are hard, dense, lumpy, or those which arc 
very fertile. Does not refer to weight. 

Herbivorous. Feeding on plants. 174. 

Horticulture. Arts and sciences pertaining to cultivation of fruits, flow- 
ers, vegetables, and ornamental plants. It is part of agriculture. 9, 9c. 

Host. An animal or plant on which a parasite lives. 292/^. A plant or 
animal which makes it possible for another plant or animal to grow 
alongside of it. 312«. 

Hotbed. A glass-covered box or frame which is artificially heated 
(usually by means of fermenting manure), and in which plants are 
grown. 

Humus. Vegetable mold. It may contain the remains of animals. 

Husbandry. Farming. Irt. [33, 3.3rt. 

Hygroscopic. Holding moisture as a film on the surface. 64, 67. 

Inhibit. To prevent or check. 188. 



GLOSSARY 285 

Inorganic. Matiei' which has uot been elaborated into other fonipounils 
by plants or animals. All minerals are inorganic ; also, air ami 
water. 2.5&. 

Insalivation. Mixing with saliva. 

Insecticide. A substance which kills insects. •l\)u. 

Internode. In plants, the space .between the joints. 20."). 

Inter-tillage. Tillage between plants. 8."), Sba. 

Intrin.sir. Peculiar to. internal, from the inside. The apple has in 
trinsic value, — that is, it is valuable of itself, to eat, wholly aside 
from the money it brings. See extrinsic. 

Irrigation. The practice of artificially supplying plants with water, 
especially on a large scale. 63, 63«. 

Irritable. In plants, responding to external agents, as to wind, sun- 
shine, heat. 18.3, 208. 

Larva (plural larvat). The worm-like stage of insects. 

Layer. A part of a plant which is made to take root while still attached 
to the parent, but which is intended to I)e severed and to make an 
independent plant. 229. 

Leaching. Passing through, and going off in drainage waters. 

Legumiuoii.'i. Belonging to the Leguminosai or pea family. 110. 

Lichen . A low form of plant-life, allied to algae and fungi. The 
plant body is usually grayish or dull-colored and dryish. On tree 
trunks it is usually called "moss." 29a. Fig. '.'>. 

Light soils. Soils which are very loose and open, or which are poor 
in plant-food. Does uot refer to weight. 

Marking out. Making lines or marks on the land 1o facilitate sowing 
or planting. 103. 

Medium. A fundamental or underlying substance: soil is a medium 
for holding water. An agent: a root is a medium for transporting 
water. 4i>. 

Microbe. See micro-organism. 

Micro-organism . A microscopic organism. It may be either plant or 
animal; but the term is commonly restricted to bacteria or mi- 
crobes or germs, which are now classed with plants. 3.5«. 

Mineral matter. Earthy matter, — iron, potash, lime, phosphorus, etc 

Moldboard. The curved part of the plow which inverts the furrow- 
slice. 91. 

Mulch. A cover on the soil. 83. 

Nitrate. A compound in which NO., is combined with a base. 

Nitrification. -The changing of nitrogen into a nitrat*^. 137. 

Nitrite. A compound in which NO2 is combined with a t)ase. 



286 GLOSSARY 

Nitrogen. A gas, N, comprising approximately t'our-fiftbs of the 
atmosphere. 

Nutrient. Food; aliment. 

Nutrition. The process of promoting and sustaining growth and work 
of animal and plant. 

Nutritive ratio. The proportion between tlie proteids and other con- 
stituents in a food. 452. 

Optimum temperature. The best temperature for the performance of 
a certain function. 201, 321. 

Organic. Pertaining to organisms, — that is, to animals and plants. 
Organic matter has been elaborated or compounded of inorganic 
materials, and exists in nature only as it is made by animals or 
plants. Flesh, wood, starch, protoplasm, sugar, are examples. 
The chemist defines organic matter as tliat which contains carbon 
in combination with other elements. 25, 25i<, 32. 

Ornithology. Science of birds. 

Osmosis. Tlie movement of liquids through iiiLinbranes. 184, 185. 

Oxygen. A gas, O, comprising about one-fifth of the atmosphere. 

Palatable. Of good or pleasant taste. 376, 470. 

Particles of soil. The ultimate or finest divisions of soil. 

Pedigree. A recorded genealogy. 48C. 

Peptone. A diffusible and soluble compound formed from nitrogenous 
substances by the action of digestive liquids. 389, 390. 

Perennial. A plant which lives three or more years. Rhubai-b, apple 
trees and Canada thistles are examples. [143. 

Phosphate. A substance containing or composed of phosphoric acid. 

Photosyntheiis. Making of organic matter from CO^ and water in pres- 
ence of light. 198, 199. 

Physical. Pertaining to the body or structure of a thing, as dis- 
tinguished from its life or its spirit. Pertaining to the action of 
inorganic forces, as heat, light, electricity, movement of water. 

Physiology. The science of life-process or of functioning. It treats of 
organs, and their work and uses. 

Potential. Possible ; latent. Said of powers which may be brought 
into action, but which are now doi-mant. 42a. 

Precipitate. The sediment resulting from chemical action. ,'J90a. 

Prepotent. Said of animals wliich have the power of perpetuating their 
own characteristics to a striking degree. 483. 

Protoplasm. A very complex and changeable organic nitrogenous com- 
pound, present in all living things, and necessary to their existence. 
It is the living matter of cells. 



GLOSSARY 287 

Proteid. Albuminoid; organic nitrogenous compound. 442, 442a, 450,451. 
Pruning. Removing part of a plant for the betterment of the 

I'emaiuder. 278. 
Pfomaiiie. A product of decomposition of dead tissue. WUn. 
PttjdJhi. Tlie ferment in saliva. 380. 
Puddling. The cementing together of the particles of soils, rendering 

them hard and stone-like. 81. 
Range. A pasture, particularly one of large extent. 488. 
Ration. The material fed to an animal. 
Rennet. The digestive principle derived from the fourth or true 

stomach of ruminants ; or the dried stomach itself. .'{92^. 
Retentive. Holding, retaining. 
Reverted. Said of phosphates which are in tlie process of liecoming 

insoluble. 145. 
Root-cap. The tissue covering the very tip of the growing root. 206. 
Root pasturage. The area of soil particles exposed to or amenable to 

root action. 53a, 90. 
Rotation. A systematic alternation of crops. 112, 305, 305a. 
Roughage. Forage, 330; particularly coarse forage. 

Sanitation. Looking after the health, especially making the condi- 
tions such that disease or injury is prevented. 
Sap. The juice or liquid contents of plants. 207a. 
Saturated. Full of water, so that it cannot hold more. 
Searifi/. To scratch or to harrow lightly. 
Secretion. A special product derived from the blood : as saliva, gastric 

juice. .363a. 
Seed-bed. The earth in vshich seeds are sown. 243a. 
Seedling. A plant grown from seed, and not changed to another kind 

by grafting or budding. 241&. 
Silicious. Sandy. 
Slip. A cutting. 

Soil. That part of the surface of the earth in which plants grow. 24. 
Soiling. Feeding green fresh forage, in stable or field. 
Sport. A variety or form which appears suddenly, or is very unlike the 

type. 485. 
Stock. The plant into which a cion is set. 236. The parentage of any 

group or line of animals or plants. The animal tenants of a farm ; 

live-stock. 
Stoma, stomate. A breathing-pore. 188, 188a. , 

Stibsoil. That part of the soil which lies below the few inches of 

ameliorated and productive surface soil. It is usually harder, 

lighter colored, and poorer in plant-food than the surface soil. 



288 GLOSSARY 

Subsoiling. Breaking up the subsoil. 97. 

Subsurface. The lower part of the surface soil, — just above the sub- 
soil. 250a. 
Supernnuated. Past its usefulness. 
Superphosphate. Sometimes used to designate availal)le phosphates, 

and sometimes to designate nifiterials which contain jihosphate but 

no potash or nitrogen. 14.3rt. 
Supersaturated. More than saturated, so that the water drains away. 
Supplementary . Secondary ; used in addition to something else. 
Swine. Hogs, pigs. 
Tap-root. A root which runs straight downwards, with no very large 

branches. Figs. 33, 79. 
Texture. Of soils, the size of the ultimate particles. 
Tillage. Stirring the soil. 84, 84rt. 

Toxin. A poisonous production of deconipii-jtion. 409((. 
Training. Placing or guiding the branches of a plant. 278. 
Transpiration. Passing off of water from plants. 187. 
Trimming. Removing part of a plant to iniinov. ,iic looks or man- 

ageableness of the remainder. 278. 
Turbid. Muddy, cloiidy. 
Under-drainage. Drainage from below. The water is carried tlirougii 

the soil, not carried off on the surface. 57, ti8. 
Frea. A waste nitrogenous compound which is east out through the 

kidneys. 
Variation. Modification or change in an animal or plant. The coming 

in of new forms or types. Departure from the normal type. 
Viable. Having life; capable of living or growing. 21(i. 
Vital. Pertaining to life or living things : vital heat is the heat of 

an animal or plant, as distinguished from the heat of the sun or 

of a fire. 
Weed. A plant which is not wanted. 

Waterspront . A strong and usually soft shoot arising from an adven- 
titious or dormant bud,— outside the regular place and order of 

shoots. 28f). 
Water-table. That part of the soil marked by the upper limit of the 

free or standing water. 57, 57(^. 
Zoology. Knowledge and science of animals. 17. 



SUGGESTIONS TO READING - CLUBS 
AND TO TEACHERS 

This book has found a phice in reading- circles. 
The following suggestions on this use of the text 
were made by request of the reading- circles of 
one state, and they are reproduced here for the 
benefit of others who may similarly employ the 
book. 

In the production of its wealth, agriculture 
operates in three great fields, — with the soil, the 
plant, and the animal. Although aided at every 
point by a knowledge of other subjects, its final 
success rests on these bases, and these are the 
fields to which the Principles of Agriculture 
gives most attention. 

Agriculture is often said to be the most fun- 
damental and most useful of occupations, since 
it feeds the world. The province of a text-book 
of agriculture is to deal with the original pro- 
duction of agricultural wealth rather than with 
its manufacture, transportation or sale. 

The subject of agriculture is being considered 
very generallj^ by schools. This book is intended 
to supply the demand for a broad knowledge 
of the subject, both general and specific. It 

's (289) 



290 THE PRINCIPLES OF AHKICULTURE 

regards farming as a business, to which science 
may be made to contribute a large measure of 
success. It treats the subject from the side of 
production, since it is not practicable to confuse 
this brief treatment with a discussion of social 
rural questions. 

The general plan of the book is to state fun- 
damental principles in terse language without 
very much explanation. In order to cover so 
much ground, it is necessary to make the text 
very brief. It is considered that the book should 
not run beyond three hundred pages, else it 
would be so large as to interfere with its gen- 
eral usefulness. The bare statement of princi- 
ples is likely to be dry and uninteresting, how- 
ever, and therefore some incidental and explana- 
tory remarks are placed in small type at the 
end of each chapter. Principles themselves never 
need pictures for illustration; but the applica- 
tions of these principles are often made plain by 
the use of engravings. Therefore the engravings 
are placed in the explanatory text rather than 
in the preliminary statements. 

The whole book is itself a skeleton or outline 
of the subject. It is expected that the reader 
will fill it in as he goes along, by discussion and 
by reading other books, bulletins and agricultural 
papers. Some useful references will be found in 
the explanatory matter. 



KEVIKW OF THE J50UK 291 

Spend at lea.st one meeting on the Table of 
Contents for the purpose of developing a general 
point of view on the whole subject of agriculture. 
This book is made for adults or for those who 
are old enough to grasp a general view of the 
subjects included in agriculture. It is well to 
have all these subjects in mind at the outset, so 
that the relative importance of each may be 
known and understood. 

It will be noticed that the introduction is con- 
cerned with a general statement of what agri- 
culture is. It has three co-ordinate divisions, as 
may be seen by the analysis on page ix. The 
first division attempts to define agriculture, the 
second to discuss the personal attributes on 
which successful agriculture depends, and the 
third defines the field of its endeavor. Under 
section 1 are to be found a definition of agri- 
culture, paragraphs 1, 2, la, 2a; what agricul- 
ture contributes to the world, 3, 3a; what agri- 
culture is, 4, -la, •J-ft; definitions of agriculture, 
5-9, 8a, 9a. In section 2, it is explained how 
successful farming depends on the executive 
ability of the farmer, in paragraphs 10-12; how 
it depends on a knowledge of science, 13-20; 
how complicated the business of agriculture is, 
21, 21a, 216. In section 3, there is an outline 
of the tilings with which agriculture deals, in 
paragraphs 22, 22a, 226. 



292 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

Followinjj' are some questions that might 
be asked on tliis introduction in order to bring 
out the various points involved. These outlines 
and questions may suggest how all the chapters 
in the book may be handled with some degree 
of satisfaction: 

1. What is agriculture? Is it the same as farming? As 
husbandry? What are crops? What is stock? What are direct 
and indirect products of the land? 

2. Is marketing a part of agriculture? Define primary and 
secondary products. Contrast agriculture and manufacture. 

3. What does agriculture contribute to the world? Is agri- 
culture the most important of all arts? 

4. What is an ideal husbandry? What is mixed husbandry 
and what specialty husbandry? Which most completely maintains 
itself? 

5. Define animal industry, horticulture, forestry. What re- 
lation do these bear to agriculture? How is forestry popularly 
misunderstood? 

6. Is the farmer a business man? Why is executive ability 
important? What is meant by personality and how important is 
it to the farmer? Tan executive ability be gained wholly from 
books? 

7. What do you understand by the term farm -practice? What 
is the value of one's own experience? 

8. What are staple and special products? How are prices 
made for these two classes of products? Which class is the more 
important in the agriculture of your region? 

9. Name two reasons why a knowledge of natural science is 
helpful to the farmer. 

10. Discuss the relation of physics to agriculture. Of me- 
chanics. Of botany. Of zGology. Of chemistry. Of climatology. 
Of geology. Explain what you mean by each of these terms. 

11. Give some illustration of how complicated the business of 
agriculture is. 



UK VIEW OF THE liOOK 293 

12, Explain the three great subjects with which agriculture 
deals. 

13. Is agriculture a scieuce or an art? 

It will be noticed that the body of the book 
is divided into three co-ordinate parts: the soil, 
the plant, the animal. These represent the three 
great fnndamentals on which the successful prac- 
tice of agTiculture depends. A complete treatise 
on agriculture would include a division that 
would have to do with the general economic 
principles that underlie the business, and another 
on the social relations; but the insertion of this 
discussion would cany the present volume quite 
beyond its limits of usefulness as an elementary 
text -book. 

PART I. THE SOIL 

The soil is considered in several aspects. It 
is important to state at the outset that the pri- 
mary consideration is not the plant- food alone 
in the soil, but the physical characteristics as 
well. In the older books it was customary to 
place most of the stress on the chemical con- 
tent of the soil. This was because agricultural 
chemistry was the first of the natural sciences 
to make great contributions to the advancement 
of agricultural knowledge. It is now under- 
stood that the physical constitution of the soil 
is as important as its chemical constitution; it 



294 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

may be even more important, since plant- food 
can be added if the soil has the proper physical 
make-up. 

The soil is considered in six general phases: 
(1) the contents of the soil, as to what it is and 
what it contains; (2) the structm-e of the soil; 
(3) the moisture in the soil; (4) the tallage or 
amelioration of the soil; (5) the enrichment of 
the soil by means of farm resources; (6) the 
enrichment of the soil by means of commercial 
or concentrated materials. 



Chapter 1 

At the outset, it is necessary to get a broad 
view of the way in which soils have come to 
be, and what the content of the soil is. As soon 
the farmer develops a rational point of view on 
this subject, the fields and hills and swamps 
will have a new meaning to him. 

What are the sources from which all life and wealth are de- 
rived? Which of these sources are beyond the control of man? 
What is soil? What is the meaning of the word soil as contrasted 
with land? 

Of what two kinds of elements is the soil composed (?2rt, 2&)? 
What is the physical basis of the soil? What is meant by organic 
and inorganic (25«)? What does the soil contain besides these 
two classes of materials (25)? The pupils should be asked to 
demonstrate the presence of inorganic matter in any soil (25c). 
What is meant by weathering? How has the soil been formed by 
means of weathering (26) ? What are the agencies by means of 



REVIEW OE THE BOOK 295 

which weathering proceeds? Does weathering act on surfaces that 
are in general level as well as on those that are inclined? Pupils 
should bring in a stone or brick or some other piece of mineral 
material that shows the effect of weathering. Why are pebbles 
rounded? What has become of the particles that have disappeared 
from them? Why may weathering proceed less slowly on level 
areas than on steep hills? Why do mountains and hills tend to 
become rounded? Why are some mountain peaks sharp and 
others rounded? After weathering has proceeded, how are the 
detached particles distributed? 

How do plants become agents in the formation of soil? Where 
do lichens grow? How do roots act in the making of soil? How 
do animals contribute to the making of soils? What is understood 
by chemical action (30)? Let the teacher or pupil read some of 
the extracts from Darwin's book on "Vegetable Mold," explaining 
how it is that the earth-worm contributes to the formation of soil. 
Are there any soils in which organic matter predominates ; if so, 
where are they formed, and how? What is humus? How does it 
modify the texture and color of soils? What is the value of humus 
(33)? How may the farmer secure humus for his laud? How im- 
portant do you consider humus to be in the farming of your neigh- 
borhood? What isamicro-ogani.sm? Howdo micro-organisms benefit 
soils or contribute to the growth of plants? Do you understand 
that the soil is a scene of life as well a collection of materials? 

How is soil transported and laid down? How may stones be 
a source of benefit to land? What are the chief agencies by means 
of whicli soils have been transported? What soils partake most 
closely of the nature of the bed rock on which they lie? Explain 
how a stream becomes a transporter of soil. What is muddy 
water? Let the pupil illustrate what there is in muddy water. 
What are glaciers? What has been their effect on the soil on a 
large part of northeastern North America? Determine whether 
the soils of your region have been modified by the action of 
glaciers. What influence has the wind in transporting soils? 
Illustrate from the sand storms of the plains and deserts. Is there 
dust in the atmosphere? If so, what is it and how may it be 
detected? 



296 THE PRINCIPLES OF AOKICULTURE 

Why is soil useful to plant life? How much plant-food naay an 
acre of land contain? What is available plant- food? What is 
potential plant-food? Is all of the plant-food in common soils 
available? How does nature restore or maintain the fertility of 
soils? How do man's operations differ from Nature's in this 
regard? Are all plant-food materials equally useful to all plants? 
What effect has deep-rooting on the soil, and on the amount of 
plant-food that the plant obtains? Why are fertilizers useful? 
What is the reason for their application? 

Let the circle or pupils read paragraph 48 in concert. 



Chapter 2 

In this chapter we discuss the texture and 
structure of the soil. We shall find that the 
condition of the soil is as important as its com- 
position. Farmers have - always known this, but 
it is only recently that we have found out the 
underlying reasons why. The subject of "soil 
physics" has now come to be of first importance. 

What are the two general offices of soil so far as the growing 
of plants is concerned? Maya soil that is rich in all the plant- 
foods still be unadapted to the growing of crops? Why cannot 
crops grow on rock? Why not on very hard clay? What is meant 
by the "texture" of the soil? By the "structure"? What is the 
"physical condition" of the soil? In what language does the 
farmer express a good physical condition? What words does he 
use to express a poor physical condition? 

Name the reasons why good structure is important (52). 
Where do the roots feed? What relation has the size of soil par- 
ticles to the amount of available plant-food? Illustrate this by 
breaking up a cube of sugar or a lump of chalk. Mathematically 
this could be best illustrated by cutting up a cube of wax. In 
what way, then, may the fining of soil be said to increase its pro- 



REVIEW OP THE BOOK 297 

ductivity? What was Jethro Tull's theory of the value of the 
fining of the soil by means of tillage (53c) ? How important was 
Tull's work, and why? 

In what general way may the structure of the soil be improved? 
What is meant by making the land " mellow " ? What kind of lands 
are mostly improved by being made mellow? What kind of lands 
are improved by being made eorapact or retentive? Name the 
three ways in which the size of the soil particles may be modified. 
What are the general uses of under-drainage? May under-drain- 
ing improve dry lands? What is the water-table? How is it 
modified by under-draining? What is an amendment? How does 
it improve or modify the character of the soil? What effect may 
lime have when added to the soil aside from directly furnishing 
plant-food? Name materials from which humus may be derived. 

What are the values of stable manures? Does their value lie 
alone in the amount of plant-food that they contain? Illustrate 
the value of good aoil texture by the practice of the florist. 

Let the class read aloud and in concert paragraph 60, 



Chapter o 

It is important that the pupil get a firm grasp 
on the structure of this chapter, concerning the 
moisture in the soil. Notice that it is divided 
into four co-ordinate parts: 

(1) Why moisture is important. 

(2) How the water is held in the soil. 

(3) How the moisture-holding capacity of the 
soil may be increased. 

(4) The saving of the soil moisture. 

Since crops oftener fail for lack of moisture 
than for lack of plant-food, it is very important 
that this chapter be given careful consideration. 



298 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

Why is soil moisture important in agricultural practicef How 
do plants use water? How may the loss of water from the plant 
be shown? What is irrigation? Under what conditions is irriga- 
tion admissible (63rt)? In what part of the country is it a gen- 
eral practice, and in what part a special practice? 

In what forms may water be held in the soil? Explain each of 
these three methods (65, 66, 67). Make an experiment to show 
the capillary power of the soil. What is meant by the term "film 
moisture?" In what condition is the water held in very wet soils? 
When lands are in proper condition for the growing of crops, is 
the soil wet or is it moist? Illustrate film moisture by dipping a 
marble or a stone in water. Illustrate capillarity by applying 
one corner of a lump of sugar to water. Illustrate the transfer of 
water from particle to particle by placing several lumps of sugar 
together and applying water to one of them. Where is the free 
water of the soil? What is meant by a "leachy" soil? In what 
soils and under what conditions does water run off the surface? 
Does this wash of water from the surface do any harm aside from 
the loss of the water itself? 

What is meant by the term "rainfall?" How may the soil be 
made to hold the rainfall? How may surface washing be pre- 
vented? How do soils vary in their capacity to hold water? 
Make an experiment to illustrate the capacity of the different 
soils to hold moisture (72rt). How does the humus content of the 
soil affect its moisture-holding capacity? How important is 
humus in the agriculture of your region? Is there sufficient rain- 
fall in this region to carry the crops through the season without 
resorting to irrigation? 

How is the humus in the soil depleted? State one reason why 
newly broken or newly cleared lands give the best crops. How 
may the humus be gradually increased? la it possible to put too 
much humus in the land? The pupil should be instructed in the 
effect of humus in different kinds of soils, ^oils that are already 
rich in humus may be injured rather than benefited by the appli- 
cation of more, whereas those that are lacking in humus or are 
very hard, or very loose and sandy, maybe greatly benefited. In 
many of the loess soils of the middle West the nddition of much 



REVIEW OF THE HOOK 299 

humus may be a decided disadvantage. Call attention to the fact 
that in very windy regions the soil may be made so loose and 
open and fine as to be exposed to much damage by VFindS. In 
new countries humus may be more abundant than in old lands: 
why? Are the lands in your neighborhood in need of humus? 
Illustrate when green-crops should be plowed under for the pur- 
pose of giving the best results. What is the danger of plowing 
them under too late in the season (74«'>? 

Explain what drainage is. What is surface drainage and 
under-drainage? How may surface drains be constructed so as 
to interfere least with agricultural operations? What effect has 
under-drainage on the soil? What effect does a warm shower in 
spring have on land that is perfectly drained? What effect does 
a cool summer shower have? Explain some of the practices of 
tile draining, as to depth of drain, distance apart of the different 
drains (76a, 76b). What relation does under-drainage have to 
tap-rooted plants (78(7)? What is meant by the "soil reservoir?" 

How does tillage enable the soil to hold moisture? How does 
increasing the capillarity increase the moisture-holding capacity? 
What is the general direction of the movement of moisture by 
means of capillary attraction? May soil be made too fine? What 
is meant by "puddling" of soils? 

What is meant by the "conservation of moisture?" How does 
moisture escape from the land? What is meant by the "surface 
mulch" or the "soil-mulch?" About how much water is required 
to produce a pound of dry matter (81fe)? How does tillage save 
the moisture? 

Explain (1) the general direction of movement of soil water 
in the growing season; (2) how the moisture-holding capacity of 
the soil may be increased; (3) how surface evaporation may be 
lessened. 

Chapter 4 

The tillage of the soil maj' now be con- 
sidered, for we have learned how important 
the physical condition of the soil is, and also 



300 THE PKINC'IPLES OF AGRJCULTURE 

how necessary the moisture is and how it maj- 
be caught and saved. In common speech, the 
word cultivation is used for the stirring of the 
soil; but it is better to use the word tillage, 
since this is a specific technical word with no 
other meaning. 

The present chapter has three co-ordinate 
parts: (1) what tillage is; (2) what tillage does; 
(3) how tillage is performed. 

Explain what you mean by the word tillage. Why is tillage 
performed? Distinguish the two kinds of tillage (85). Under 
what conditions are these kinds practiced? What is meant by 
deep and shallow tillage? By surface tillage? 

Note that tillage improves the land in three general ways. 
(Read the first clause in the paragraphs 87, 88, J-9.) How does 
tillage improve the physical condition of the soil? What in- 
fluence has it in saving moisture? What influence has it on the 
chemical actions taking place in the soil? Of what importance is 
air to the soil (89a)? In what sense is it true that "tillage is 
manure "? 

Note that there are three general ways of performing tillage 
with respect to the kinds of tools that are used. What are they 
(^3a, 3b, 3c)? Give seven reasons why we plow. Explain how 
plowing pulverizes the soil; the relation it has to green-manur- 
ing; how it increases the depth of the soil; what relation it has 
to hard-pan or subsoil; how it modifies the temperature and 
moisture of the soil ; what relation it has to weathering. Explain 
what subsoiling is and what it does. Define the words furrow 
and furrow-slice (91a). Describe what might be considered to 
be an ideal general -purpose plow. 

Name the important surf ace- working tools. Give five im- 
portant influences that surface-working has on the soil. What is 
meant by the "earth-mulch?" What is it for? How deep should 
it be? How is it made? How may it be destroyed? How is it 
repaired? How often should it be repaired? If the earth-mulch 



REVIEW OF THE BOOK 301 

itself is very dry, may it still be of use? At what time of the 
year is earth-mulch most useful? What relation has surface 
tillage to weeds? Why do we till? 

Name tools that have a compacting influence on soils. Name 
some important uses of the compacting of the soil. What is the 
benefit of rolling the land? What are the disadvantages? What 
relation has the rolling to germination of seeds? What relation 
to soil moisture? Does the rolling of the land require much 
judgment? Why? 

Chapters 5 and 6 

We now consider the enriching of the soil. 
We have found that tlie soil is made to be more 
productive by thorough preparation and by sub- 
sequent tillage. The plants are enabled to lay 
hold of the stores of plant- food, and many 
chemical activities are set up that result in 
rendering plant-food more available. The plant 
is given a comfortable and congenial place in 
which to grow. It thrives. We have found 
that the physical structure or condition of the 
soil is of primary importance. When we have 
secured the best physical condition and have 
done our best with tillage, we may then think 
of adding extraneous materials to the soil for 
the purpose of enriching it. That is, we manure 
or fertilize the land. Whether this fertilizing 
pays or not, depends wholly on conditions. The 
addition of mere plant- food is rarely profitable 
unless the land is first in condition for the very 
best growing of the plant. 



302 THE I'KINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

Manures are of two general characters; those 
that improve the texture of the soil, and those 
that add plant-food. Barn manures usually per- 
form both offices, and this is one reason why 
they give excellent results. 

As a matter of farm -practice, we may divide 
all fertilizers or manurial substances in two great 
classes: those that are produced on the farm, 
and those that are bought from the market. 
The best agriculture is that which aims to pro- 
duce a good part of the necessary fertilizing- 
materials on the farm itself. These materials 
are by-products (see definition in glossary). 

In Chapter V we discuss three general cate- 
gories: (1) what these farm manures are, (2) 
the enriching of soil by means of crops that are 
plowed under, (3) direct application of farm 
manures to the land. 

The following questions will tend to bring out 
the various points in the chapter: 

What is the veal fertility of the land? Has it to do alone with 
plant- food? What is the first step toward increasing the produc- 
tiveness of any soilf What are the means by which this step may 
be taken? What is humus (review paragraph 33)? How is humus 
secured? 

What are green-manures? How much of the weight of a 
clover crop may be left in the ground (108a)? Name the three 
classes of green-manure crops, and explain them. How may 
green-manuring crops be classified, with reference to their nitro- 
gen-gathering power? Name some of the nitrogen-gatherers. 
To what family of plants do they belong? Name some of the 



REVIEW OP THE BOOK 303 

nitrogen-consumers, or those that do not add uitrogpn to the soil. 
Do they belong to any one group or family of plants i" Name the 
three great staple green-manure crops of the nitrogen-gathering 
class (111). What is meant by intensive farming (111«)? What 
by extensive farming (1116)? 

What is the ideal method of securing the green-manuring 
crop in general agriculture (112)? Can a regular rotation be 
practiced in most kinds of intensive farming? Why is land bene- 
fited by being "rested" in clover or some other crop? Explain 
how land may be benefited sometimes even by "resting" in 
weeds. What are the two values of green-manure crops (114)? 
Is it true that green-manures may be valuable even when more, 
plant-food is not needed? Apply this to fruit-growing crops. 
How may a system of green-manure cropping be inaugurated on 
hard and poor lands? Where are cover-crops most useful, and 
why? How early should the cover-crop in orchards be plowed 
under? May weeds ever be useful in orchards late in the season? 
Why should they not be allowed to grow early in the season? 
What are the disadvantages of allowing weeds to grow even late 
in the season? 

What does the application of stable manure do for the land? 
Upon what does its value depend (119)? How should stable 
manures be protected or stored? Explain what you understand by 
a covered barnyard (120«). How are stable manures affected by 
exposure to the weather? What is the value of thoroughly rotted 
manure? What is the philosophy of composting manures? When 
the manures cannot be sheltered or protected, what disposition 
may be made of them? What precautions? 

What is the value of muck? What is peat, and what is its 
value? Discuss marl; also sawdust, straw, leaves, pomace, and 
the like. Under what conditions do you think it would pay to 
plow under straw.? 

Ill Chapter VI the g'eneral discussion of fer- 
tilizer substances is continued, but in this case 
the subject is commercial plant -foods. This is 
a subject of very great importance, particularly 



304 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGKIOULTUKE 

ill the older states, and it will be of increasing 
importance as the country grows older. It is a 
technical subject, for the complete understanding 
of which much chemical knowledge is needed. 
Persons who desire to study the subject in detail 
should consult special works and bulletins. 
However, the general philosophy of the applica- 
tion of commercial plant- foods may be under- 
stood from this brief chapter. 

It will be noticed that the chapter has six 
coordinate parts: (1) what the elements of plant- 
food are in the soil, and which ones are most 
likely to be exhausted; (2) the nitrogen supply; 
(3) phosphoric acid supply; (4) potash; (5) 
amendments, or those substances that act bene- 
ficially on the structure or physical condition of 
the soil; (6) discussion of commercial fertilizers. 

What is a cheinieally fertile soil? What is an element ( I27a) ? 
How many elements are supposed to be necessary to the plants 
(127; pages 115-117)? Which of these elements are most likely to 
be depleted by the growing of crops? In order that these elements 
may be useful to the plants, what must be their relation to water? 
Do plants use these elements in their original or uncombined 
forms? What is meant by a compound in the chemical sense 
(130a)? What is meant by "available" plant-food? Does the 
soil contain much unavailable food of the elements that plants 
need? What makes plant food available? What is the influence 
of tillage in this respect? Do roots themselves make plant-foods 
available (131a, review also paragraphs 30 and 30a)? What are 
the disadvantages in the use of barn manures? 

What is the office of nitrogen? How does it affect the plant? 
How may the lack of nitrogen be discovered? Explain what 



REVIEW OP THE BOOK 305 

nitrogen is and what its sources are. What is ammonia? Nitric 
acid? Nitrate? What is the relation of humus to nitrogen? What 
is nitrification? How is it brought about? Is the nitrogen of the 
atmosphere used by plants? If so, through what parts of the 
plants is it taken up? How may we add commercial nitrogen 
to the soil? 

What is the chief office of phosphoric acid? What crops use 
liberally of it? What are sources of phosphoric acid? What is 
meant by the term phosphate? What is an acid phosphate? 
Superphosphate (143a)'? Explain the relationships of phosphoric 
acid to lime. What is a "reverted" phosphate? In what forms 
are the phosphates found in commercial fertilizers? 

What is the office of potash? What are the sources of supply? 
Whence came the commercial potash salts? Explain what 
muriate and sulfate of potash are. 

What is an amendment? Give examples. How does an 
amendment affect the soil? What effect may lime have on land? 
In what form may it be applied? What do you understand by an 
acid? Alkali? How many substances may be tested with regard 
to acidity or alkalinity (153a)? Make the test with vinegar and 
with lye. 

What is a commercial fertilizer? What is meant by a "com- 
plete" fertilizer? What is meant by "guaranteed analysis?" 
What is meant by the "brand?" What are the relative com- 
mercial values of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash? Figure 
out the commercial or estimated value of a ton of commercial 
fertilizer wlien the guaranteed analysis is given. How may you 
determine what ia the value of commercial fertilizer? 

Would you advise using a complete fertilizer, or only one 6f 
the fertilizing elements? Explain under what conditions. In 
what kind of crops is nitrogen chiefly needed? Is there danger of 
losing nitrogen from the soil? Do potash and phosphoric acid 
tend to leach out as rapidly as nitrogen? In what soils is leach- 
ing least pronounced? When are fertilizers applied, before or 
after fitting the land? Explain the six conditions that govern 
the application of commercial fertilizers (165 1. Can definite rules 
be given for the application of such fertilizers? Why? 



306 THE PRINCIPLES OB^ AGRICULTURE 

PART II.— THE PLANT AND CROPS 

We have now completed a general review of 
the characteristics of the soil, the means of im- 
proving its condition and of adding to its rich- 
ness. We now come to the second of our great 
sul)jects — the growing of plants. The growing of 
many plants together results in the securing of 
a crop. Ordinarily the general farmer considers 
the, crop rather than the individual plant, whereas 
the gardener considers individual plants rather 
than crops. That is, the gardener gives each 
plant special care. He often grows the plant in 
a pot and every vacancy is noticed. The gar- 
dener, therefore, is likely to secure greater results 
from each plant than the general farmer is. 

It will be seen that this Part II is laid out in 
six chapters: (vii) what the offices of the plant 
are to the agriculturist; (viii) how the plant 
lives and grows; (ix) how plants may be prop- 
agated; (x) how land may be prepared in order 
to receive the seed; (xi) how a plant is cared 
for after it has germinated ; (xii) a discussion 
of a few fundamental crops, as pasturage, mea- 
dow, and forage. 

Chapter 7 

The following questions will elucidate the 
range of the offices of the plant. Note that the 



REVIEW OF THE BOOK 3U7 

chapter is divided into five coordinate heads, dis- 
cussing the plant and the crop in its general 
agricultural bearings; the plant in its relation 
to the soil; the plant in its relation to climate; 
the plant in relation to animal life; and the plant 
in relation to man. 

Name the general offices of the plant, as indicated in para- 
graph 167. What is meant by "crop"? Name a dozen crops. 
For what purpose may crops be grown? 

How does the plant influence or modify the soil? How does 
it supply humus? How does it protect the soil? What value may 
a tap-root have (170«)? How may plants be utilized to prevent 
drifting of sands and other loose lands? 

Name four ways in which the plan influences the supply of 
moisture. How does it render the surface of the earth more 
inhabitable and enjoyable? What influence have forests on rain- 
fall (172«)? 

What is the relation of plants to animals? Can it be said 
that "all flesh is grass?" What is the "round of life?" Let the 
class read aloud and in concert paragraph 175. 

Name some of the direct uses of plants to man. What are 
staple products? What are semi-staples? What are luxuries or 
accessories? What are condiments? What are beverages? What 
classes of plant products contribute to the food of animals? How 
are plants or their products used in the arts or manufactures? 
How are plants useful as objects of ornament? In what ways do 
they gratify our esthetic tastes and sentiments? What is flori- 
culture? Landscape horticulture? 

Chapter 8 

This chapter, on how the plant lives ^ is in- 
tended to give an outline of some of the most 
important activities of plants. If the reader 



308 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

wants a completer account of these matters he 
should consult botanical t^xt- books. It will be 
noticed that the chapter divides into four co- 
ordinate heads: (1) what the plant activities are; 
(2) the factors or agencies of growth; (3) the 
processes of growth; (4) irritability, or move- 
ment in plants. 

What is meant by the phrase that the plant is a " dependent 
structure?" With what must the plant be supplied in order that 
it shall live and growf What is meant by the sensitiveness or 
irritability of a plant? 

Upon what does the stiffness or rigidness of a succulent plant 
depend? Why does such a shoot wilt when it is severed from the 
plant? What is meant by the turgidity of the cells? How does 
the soil-water pass from cell to cell? Explain or illustrate tur- 
gidity (184r('). What are root-hairs, and what is their ofl&ce? 
How is it that these root-hairs absorb the soil water? What does 
the soil-water contain? The pupil should actually see and examine 
root-hairs. Compare 185& and figures 35-37. How much water 
do plants contain? Do plants absorb more water than they need 
for purposes of food? If so, what becomes of the surplus? What 
are stomata? What is their action? Illustrate transpiration (see 
figures 40 and 10). What is root pressure? Through what part 
of the plant does the soil water ascend? How may the path of 
ascent be traced (189?^)? 

What is absorbed with the soil -water? To what part of the 
plant does this soil-water, with its contents, go? Does the plant 
absorb only those substances that are use in building up its tissue? 
How may soil substances that are not in solution be brought into 
that condition? Name some of the leading substances that are 
brought in with the soil -water, particularly those that are of 
primary interest to the farmer? What is meant by the "ash"? 
What does the ash contain? Do all the ash ingredients come from 
the soil? Do any of the non-ash ingredients come from the 
soil? 



KEVIEW OP THK BOOK 309 

Where doea the plant secure its oxyj^en? What is meant by 
respiration in plants? How is it compared with respiration in 
animals? When does respiration chiefly take place? How may 
respiration be demonstrated (194a)? How else is oxygen secured 
than through the aerial parts? Do roots need air? Why? 

What element is most abundant in plants? Whence is it de- 
rived? How does it become plant-food? Define photosynthesis. 
Compare it with respiration. What is assimilation (]98rf)? What 
is chlorophyl (198ft) ? What is plant-food (198c)? In what sense 
may it be said that plants " purify the air? " 

How does heat affect plants? What degree of heat is necessary 
for certain activities? In what parts of the world do green or 
succulent plant tissues most abound? Are all plants equally 
affected by similar temperature? 

What substance results from photosynthesis? What becomes 
of it? Illustrate how starch may be detected (203?*)? What are 
the internal and external evidences of growth? Note that when a 
plant ceases to grow it begins to die. In what parts do young 
stems elongate? How does the root behave in this respect? How 
may these differences be shown? How is increase in diameter 
effected? Why does the external bark become furrowed and crack 
and break away? What is meant by the word "sap" (207a)? 

How is irritability expressed? Name some visible move- 
ments of plants. How do plants move with reference to light? 
With reference to gravitation? What is meant by the phrase 
"reaction of plants to their environment"? 



Chapter 9 

We now discuss the propagation of plants. 
Note that the chapter is divided into three co- 
ordinate parts: (1) a discussion of the general 
means by which plants are propagated; (2) prop- 
agation by means of seeds; (3) propagation by 
means of buds. 



310 THE PKINOll'LES OF AGRICULTURE 

What are the two great classes of methods by means of which 
plants are propagated? What three objects has the farmer in 
mind when he propagates plants? What do you understand by 
the term "propagation" as applied to plants? Why are not seeds 
always employed as a means of propagation? What is meant by 
the term "to come true to seed?" Explain why it is that plants 
that are habitually propagated by buds usually do not come true 
from seeds (215a). 

What are four general requisites or proper conditions for the 
germination of seed? What is meant by the "vitality" of seeds? 
How do seeds vary in vitality, and why? What is a "seed-bed?" 
In what condition should it be? What caution is suggested for the 
handling of old and weak seeds? What is the reason for the 
soaking of seeds? How is oxygen applied to germinate seeds? 
How may this supply be increased in a simple experimental way? 
What is meant by the proper temperature for the germination of 
seeds? Give examples of temperatures that are best for certain 
kinds. 

What is the ideal soil for a seed-bed, and why? How is the 
depth of planting modified by the kind of soil? Why is the earth 
packed about seeds? What caution is given respecting the cover- 
ing of very small seeds? What is meant by "re-germinating?" 
How are very hard and bony seeds sometimes treated? What do 
you understand by the term "stratification?" 

What do you understand by the phrase "propagation by means 
of buds"? Under what circumstances are plants propagated by 
means of buds? What are the two general types of propagation 
by buds? 

Explain what a layer is. Bring a shoot into the schoolroom 
and show how layering is performed, or make a layer from some 
bush or tree nearby. What plants are propagated by means of 
layers? When are the layers separated from the parent plants? 
When may the operation be performed? 

What are the two kinds of propagation by means of detached 
or separated buds? What is a cutting? A slip? A graft? Tell 
what softwood or greenwood cuttings are, and explain how they 
are made and handled. What are hardwood and dormant cut- 



REVIEW OF THE BOOK 311 

tings? How made and how handled? Name plants that are 
propagated by means of softwood cuttings and hardwood cuttings. 
What is a "single eye" cutting, and how planted? 

What do you understand by the term grafting ? Cion ? 
Stock? What is meant by the word "bud" as used by grafters or 
budders? Why do the cion and stock unite? Why is it necessary 
to bind up the wounds or to cover them with wax? Explain the 
operation of cleft- grafting. Of shield-budding. Under what 
circumstances and on what plants are these methods commonly 
used? Of what age of wood is the cion usually made? When is 
grafting performed? Budding? How are plants made to be dwarf 
by means of grafting or budding (2416?*) ? 



Chapter 10 

The preparation of the land for seed will now 
be considered. Having learned how plants are 
propagated by the gardener, we may take a 
broader view of the snbject, and see how they 
are started in the fields of the farmer. We shall 
now have to do with (1) the general factors that 
determine the preparation of the seed-bed; (2) 
the demands made by the plants on the soil; (3) 
the actual making of the seed-bed; (4) the ap- 
plication of the foregoing principles to such 
fundamental crops as wheat, Indian corn and 
potatoes. 

What is said about the loss from faulty preparation of land ? 
Why is it so very important that the farmer should know what the 
ideal seed-bed should be? What is a seed-bed, as used in its 
agricultural sense (243rt)? What are the two factors that govern 
the preparation of the land for the seed-bed? 

Do fine seeds demand a different kind of seed-bed from very 



312 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

large seeds or from cuttings of potatoes? Why? How may plants 
change their root system to adapt themselves to different kinds of 
seed-beds? How is the seed provided with food to start it off before 
it can secure a foothold on the soil? Explain the different char- 
acter of seed-bed demanded by clover and sugar beets. From 
what part of the soil do most of the farm plants derive their 
nourishment? How does a well prepared seed-bed conduce to the 
earliness of the crop? How do plants differ in regard to the 
character of seed-bed that they require (Explain by contrasting 
winter wheat and Indian corn)? 

Explain the importance of moisture to the germination of 
seeds. What kind of seed-bed is best for the preservation of soil 
moisture? Review the remarks on the earth-mulch in Chapters 
HI and IV, and make an application to the present discussion. 
What is meant by the "subsoil," "surface soil," and "sub-surface" 
soil? What is the value of rolling the seed-bed? Explain why 
the seed-bed should contain no free water. If it is desired to 
plant seeds unusually early, what must be the preparation of the 
seed-bed, — that is, how may the soil be warmed up? What 
effect has under-drainage on the germination of seeds (251rt)? 
What can you say about soils that tend to bake? What is the 
advantage of sowing seeds very early? Do all seeds that germinate 
make good plants? Are those that fail to make good plants 
necessarily a total loss to the farmer? Under what conditions are 
seeds sown on the surface of the soil without the actual prepara- 
tion of a seed-bed? What cautious are given respecting the 
making of seed-beds on clay lands? Why is summer-fallowing 
practiced as a preparation for wheat growing (255ft)? 

Discuss the seed-bed that is best for winter wheat. Under 
what system of tillage may this seed-bed best be secured? What 
effect does this seed-bed have on the root system of the wheat 
l)lant? Why is it best that wheat roots should not go directly 
downwards deep into the soil? Is it probable that the root system 
of the wheat plant tends to change somewhat as spring advances? 

What is the ideal seed-bed for maize or Indian corn? How 
does it differ from that of wheat? What are the best machines 
for planting corn? When may the young corn be tilled? 



REVIEW OP THE BOOK 313 

What is the proper seed-bed for potatoes? Should they be 
planted deep or shallow? Should they be grown in level culture 
or on ridges? 

Chapter 11 

Having now discussed the preparation of the 
seed-bed and the starting of the crop, we may- 
give attention to some of the principles tliat 
underlie the subsequent care of the plant. This 
care falls under three general categories: (1) the 
care given by means of tillage; (2) the care 
given by means of pruning and training; (3) the 
care given by keeping insects and fungi and 
other enemies in check. 

What is the first consideration in the care of the plant? 
What are the objects of tillage? What can you say about weeds? 
Name some of the general means of keeping weeds in check. 
How often should surface tillage be given? Is it ever practicable 
to till sowed crops? How late may it be advisable to till corn by 
means of harrows? 

Is tillage advisable in rruit plantations? Why is it that fruit 
plantations may do better without tillage than corn or potatoes 
do? Why is it very important to till fruit plantations early in 
life? May the orchard need clean tillage throughout its whole 
life? May sod ever be employed in an orchard to advantage? 
Should fruit plantations be tilled uniformly throughout the entire 
season? Explain a good general method for the tillage of fruit 
lands. 

What is pruning? Training? Is pruning unnatural? Explain 
by reference to a tree top what is meant by the phrase " struggle 
for existence." 

Explain how wounds heal. What are some of the factors that 
determine the proper healing of wounds? How does the season 
of the year in which thev are rande influence the healing? What 



314 thf: principles of agriculture 

should be the length and form of stub oi- stump when a large limb 
is cut away? What is the value of dressings on wouuds? Men- 
tion one or two good dressings. 

Explain why we prune. What is the result of heavy pruning 
of the top? Heavy pruning of roots? What are watersprouts? 
What influence has the cheeking of growth? How may this 
checking of growth be brought about? What is the philosophy 
of heading-in young shoots? Explain the efl'eets of pruning every 
year versus heavy pruning in occasional years. 

What are the leading kinds of enemies of plants? Explain 
the two general types of insects with reference to their methods 
of feeding. Give illustrations in each. What are some of the 
classes of fungous pests with reference to their manner of living? 
What is meant by physiological or constitutional troubles? How 
are these troubles to be distinguished? What is a fungus (292a)? 
What is a host {2i)2b)? 

What are the first requisites to keeping plants free of insects 
and fungi? What is meant by prophylaxis (294a)? Name the 
three general ways in which insects are killed. What are the 
caustic applications? Discuss the poisonous applications. What 
classes of materials are used as fungicides! What is Bordeaux 
mixture? What is meant by the term "spraying?" Explain how 
spraying should be performed. How are you to determine what 
is the best spray pump? Is spraying alone sufficient to keep 
plants healthy? Explain the different formulas. 

Chapter 12 

We now pass to a discussion of pastures, 
meadows and Jorage. Relatively few of the agri- 
cultural crops can be considered to be funda- 
mental, that is, to underlie the general system 
of agricultural practice. Tt is impossible in a 
work of limited scope to discuss the cultivation 
of many crops, but some of the principles that 



REVIKW OF THE BOOK 315 

underlie crop cultivation can be well illustrated 
with a few examples. Since grasses and other 
forage crops are of such universal use, these 
have been chosen for illustration. Note that the 
chapter begins with (1) a general discussion of 
the importance of grasses; (2) permanent pas- 
tures; (-'}) meadows; (-4) other forage plants. 

Why is grass said to be the fundamental crop? What is meant 
by the term "grass" as used in its popular or general-language 
sense (304?>-304e)? What do you understand by the term "rota- 
tion of crops? " What are the advantages of rotation ? How 
important is grass in such a system? Give one or two examples 
of good rotation of crops (305&). Explain how the number of 
grass plants to a square foot may be modified by the uses to which 
the plants are to be put. 

What is a "pasture?" What is a "permanent pasture" (307«)? 
How should the land be prepared for the making of a permanent 
pasture;" Explain how pastures may be made on different kinds 
of soil. Explain how a good pasture may be secured on land 
that has been cropped too continually and failed to produce well 
under rotation. Why is it necessary to prepare the soil for per- 
manent pasture very thoroughly? Why does the pasture tend to 
fail with aige? 

Name some of the kinds of grasses that may be employed in 
the making of a permanent pasture. Why are clovers said to be 
"host plants" to the grasses (312, 312rt)? How may clovers be 
maintained in pastures? As pastures begin to fail for lack of 
plant-food, how may they be revived? Explain how important 
constant watchfulness is to the maintenance of a permanent 
pasture. What is the necessity of keeping the ground constantly 
and evenly covered with sward? What can you say about pas- 
turing too close? About letting the grasses run to seed? What 
is said about the importance of shade on the surface of the pas- 
ture lands and how it may be secured? Recapitulate (as in para- 
graph 317) the essentials in the making and keeping of pastures. 



316 THE PKINOIFLES OF AGRICULTURE 

What is a "meadow?" How does it differ from a pasture? 
What is an average yield for a meadow? What is the importance 
of a meadow in the rotation? In what kinds of meadows are the 
largest yields usually secured? What is the advantage of mixing 
clover with the grasses? What are the advantages of mixed and 
unmixed meadows for hay? What is the lowest average yield at 
which a meadow can be considered to be profitable? 

What is a "permanent meadow?" When may such meadows 
be advisable? What is the problem with lowland meadows? How 
should the number of plants per square foot differ between 
meadows and pastures? How may meadows be tilled or prevented 
from becoming "hidebound?" 

Name some of the grasses that are best adapted to mc r.dows. 
How much seed may be sown of grasses and clover? Name some 
of the grasses of secondary special importance. Suggest how 
much seed may be required to an acre. 

What is meant by the term "forage plants? " By "roughage" 
(see glossary)? What are "soiling" plants? What general re- 
marks can you make about the growing or tilling of forage plants? 
What are the two leading forage plants of the United States? 
Describe them and tell where their greatest areas of production 
are. Name some of the annual forage plants of secondary value. 



PART III. THE ANIMAL AND STOCK 

Note that there are two general subjects con- 
sidered in this part of the book. These subjects 
are: the animal as an individual, and an aggre- 
gation of animals known as live-stock. Before 
one can handle animals in groups or become a 
stock farmer, he must know the characteristics 
of the individual animals and how to feed and 
treat them. This part of the book is divided 
into four general parts: (xin) the genei'al offices 



REVIEW OF THE BOOK 317 

of the animal to agriculture; (xiv) animal physi- 
ology, or how the animal lives and grows and 
performs its functions ; (xv) the feeding of the 
animal as a matter of farm practice; (xvi) the 
general management of the stock. 



Chapter 13 

We first discuss the offices of the animal. Note 
that the offices of the animal as related to the 
farm are thrown into several general heads. 
Cite what these heads are. 

Explain the offices of the animal as outlined in paragraph 336. 
What is stock? Name some of the animals that are included 
under this term. How does the animal have relation to the soil 
in respect to maintaining and increasing fertility? What relation 
has stock to the disposition of the crops of the farm? Explain 
how the animal itself has intrinsic value to man. Classify the 
subject, as in §4rt, Ah, 4c. What do you understand by the phrase, 
"the animal as a beast of burden?" In what ways does the ani- 
mal perform labor for the farmer? How may the animal act as a 
destroyer of pests? What influence has the stock industry on the 
diversification of labor? What is meant by the phrase "diversi- 
fication of labor? " 

Chapter 14 

Note that there are six coordinate parts in 
this chapter on hoiv the animal lives. Give these 
six parts in their order or write them on the 
blackboard. 

This chapter is somewhat technical, and 



318 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

extra time should be given to it. The reader 
will do well to study it until he feels a sense of 
mastery of the subject as here presented. 

What is a cell? Why does this discussion begin with the cell? 
Discuss single-celled animals, as in paragraphs 356-359. Do these 
lowly animals have distinct organs? What is meant by "many- 
celled animals? " What are the offices of individual cells in these 
many-celled animals, as compared with that of single-celled 
animals? What is meant by the "process of nutrition?" By the 
"nervous processes?" By the "processes of secretion" (363a)? 
What are glands (363&), and what are some of their offices? 
What are the offices of the corpuscles of the blood? With what 
may these corpuscles be compared? What is the lymph and the 
lymphatic system (365, 365rt)? What is meant by a specialized and 
a generalized organ or organism (360a)? 

What are the kinds of food as outlined in 307? What are 
herbivorous animals? Carnivorous? How do the digestive organs 
of the herbivorous animals differ from others? Compare the 
digestive apparatus of the horse with that of the ox. How does 
artificial care and selection modify the size of the digestive organs? 
What must all foods contain in order to be of use to the animal? 
Name nitrogenous foods. Name non-nitrogeneus foods. What 
is the special office of the latter? Are the non- nitrogenous foods 
ever formed from the nitrogenous? How? What is meant by fat 
(371a)? What are the mineral salts? What is the constitution of 
ideal food? What is meant by a well-balanced ration? Can a 
definite mathematical ration be constructed that will be of equal 
value for all animals? Explain. 

What is digestion? What is the alimentary canal? What are 
the digestive secretions? Discuss saliva. What is the active 
principle of saliva, and what is its office? What are the offices 
of the various stomachs in ruminating animals? What is the 
office of the chewing of the cud? How do the salivary glands 
differ between youth and age? What relation has this to the kind 
of food that an animal should have? What are the three digestive 
principles produced by the stomach? Describe them. What is 



REVIEW OF THE HOOK 319 

an antiseptic (387a)? What is pepsin and peptone? How are 
peptones distinguished? What is t leir office? What is the milk- 
curdling ferment? What is a ferment (379«)? What is rennet, and 
for what is it used? Where is the gastric juice secreted in birds? 

What digestion takes place in the intestines? Describe the 
fluids there secreted. What is bile and where secreted? What is 
its office? Discuss pancreatic juice. What is meant by an emul- 
sion (396a)? What is the intestinal juice? 

The various foods having been digested, they are now to be 
aborbed or taken into the bodily system. Describe how they are 
absorbed by means of villi. Describe what a villus is. Into 
what fluids do these digestive matters pass? 

The blood having received the digested foods, these materials 
now go to various parts of the body to build up the tissues and 
repair waste. What is one of the most important new products 
resulting from digestion? What transformation takes place in 
the liver? What are ptomaines and toxins (409a)? 

W^hat is breathing? What is the relative constitution of in- 
haled and exhaled air? How is the air brought into contact with 
the blood? How is the blood circulated in the warm-blooded 
animals? What is the nature of blood as it goes from the heart 
and returns to it? What becomes of the excess of oxygen in the 
new or pure blood? Where does the real effect of breathing take 
place? How is the amount of needed air modified by the con- 
dition or activity of the animal? How does the amount vary be- 
tween different species of animals? At what point does air be- 
come unable to support life because of carbon dioxid? What is 
the value of good ventilation? Give any practical hints. 

What is meant by "waste of tissue? " Under what conditions 
does waste proceed most rapidly? Under what conditions is 
waste repaired? Does the waste take place in exact proportion 
to the energy or work expended by the individual? When will 
the animal lay up fat? Under what conditions are milk-pro- 
ducing animals profitable to their owners? What are the most 
favorable conditions for the fatteniig of animals? What are the 
dangers of too close confinement? Is the animal body to be 
likened to a mere machine (426)? 



320 THE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE 

Chapter 15 

Note the four co-ordinate parts into which 
this chapter on the feeding of the animal is 
divided; namely, sources from which animal 
food is secured, how the animal uses the food, 
the composition of fodders, and the practice of 
feeding. 

What is the nature of animal food? What is a fodder? What 
must fodder contain in order to be useful? 

How is it that the animal is able to secure energy from the 
materials stored in plants? How does the animal first expend 
energy on the food? How may the profit in fodder be represented? 
Why is it that some substances that contain an abundance of 
plant-food may still be unprofitable for feeding? Name the five 
ways in which the animal uses fodder. When the food is scant 
and insufficient, how is it used? What is meant by "food of 
maintenance," "food of support," and "food of production?" Is 
all the food or material consumed by the animal of use to it in 
building up animal tissue? Why? How does the proportion of 
food digested vary in different animals? How does it vary with 
the character of the food itself ? 

Name the various classes of substances which compose fod- 
ders. To what extent is water present in fodders? What is a by- 
product (437rt)? What is the use of the water to animals? How 
does the water content increase the value of fodder in general? 
What is ash? From what sources do animals secure all the ash 
that they need? What is the importance of albuminoids as fodder 
constituents? What elements do they contain? How does the 
composition of albuminoids vary? What are carbohydrates? 
What is the signification of the term from the chemical point of 
view (445rt)? What is the particular office of carbohydrates? 
What is meant by fiber? Discuss the importance of fats in fod- 
ders. How is the feeding value of fat expressed (449)? 

What are the classes of fodder that are of distinct use to the 



REVIEW OK THE BOOK 321 

animal? What are they called collectively? What is a ration? 
What is a balanced ration? What is a nutritive ration? What is 
a "wide" and a "narrow" nutritive ration? Give an example (as 
suggested by 453a). What is the value of the nutritive ration in 
actual feeding practice? Which of the food constituents is most 
likely to be lacking and is most needful, therefore, to be supplied? 
On what does the quantity of food required by an animal depend 
(458, 458rt, 459)? How does the amount vary between youth and 
age? How is the profit secured from feeding? Upon what does 
the amount of "food for production" depend? Give an illustra- 
tion (462). Is the food that an animal actually eats a measure of 
the amount that it actually needs? Explain. What is a feeding 
standard? Give an example. How may these feeding standards 
be varied? What is the advantage of mere bulk in ration? What 
are the substances that give bulk to a ration? What is meant by 
the term "coarse" as applied to fodders? What by the term 
"concentrated fodders?" What is the danger in providing a too 
bulky ration? About what proportion of dried matter should a 
particular ration contain for cud-chewing animals? For horses? 
What is meant by palatableness? What is its value in fodders? 
Give one reason why silage is a good fodder. What is silage (4696)? 
If there is any advantage in cooking foods, explain what it is. 
What is the advantage of cutting or shredding fodders? What is 
the advantage of variety or change in the food given to an animal? 

Chapter 16 

A brief discussion of the management of stock 
may now be undertaken. Note the four divisions 
into which this chapter falls: as, the breeding 
of stock, where stock raising is advisable, how 
much stock can be kept on a given area, and 
the care of stock in general. 

What is meant by the propagation or increase of the race? 
What is necessary beyond the mere propagation of stock? What 

U 



322 rilK l'KliN(UPLKS OK AiiKICLLTrUE 

is breeding and what are its two objects? What is a breed? Name 
breeds in various classes of stock. When may a man be said to 
be a stock-breeder? What is meant by the "mental" ideal, and 
what is its value in stock-breeding? When may the ideal be im- 
practicable? How does the ideal vary with different classes of 
stock? How are animals judged in regard to their excellence? 
What is meant by the judging or the scoring of animals (481a)? 
If possible, apply the score cards on pages 27G and 277 to animals 
for which they are intended. What is the first practice in breed- 
ing for an ideal? What is the second point? What is meant by 
a "prepotent" animal? Give some of the common characteristics 
of a prepotent animal. What is a "sport"? What importance do 
these sports usually have in the improvement of the race? What 
is meant by the term "fixed" as applied to breeding? What is a 
pedigree? What are the advantages of a pedigree (486, 486a)? 
What is meant by pure-blooded stock? Is pure stock always to 
be advised for the general farmer, and why? How may the 
farmer secure the advantages of good breeding (487, 487o)? 

In what regions and under what conditions is live - stock 
growing particularly advantageous? Discuss the advantages of 
the West and South where the range areas are large. Discuss 
the narrow and sheltered valleys of the North. What is the gen- 
eral tendency respecting the extent of stock raising? Name 
some conditions under which a large quantity of stock can not be 
kept with the most profit. Let the class read paragraph 491 in 
concert. 

How much stock may be profitably kept on an acre in the rich 
prairie countries? How much on farms in the East? What are 
the two theories or principles controlling the quantity of stock a 
farm can keep with profit? Explain the practice of buying stock 
to feed. What are the economics of this practice when figured 
on the basis of wheat bran (496, 497)? When is this practice of 
stock-feeding likely to be profitable? What is one reason for the 
growth of this practice (499 ? What is the value of stock- feeding 
in respect to maintaining the fertility of the land (500, 500a)? 

What is the general importance of making animals comfort- 
able? Discuss ventilation, and how secured. Discuss the tem- 



REVIEW OF THE BOOK 323 

perature at which stables should be maintained. Discuss the 
importance of light, and how it may be controlled. Discuss also 
the means of storing the manure. Discuss some principles that 
underlie the watering of animals. How does the ration vary with 
the animal, its age, and the conditions under which it is kept? 
How should the ration and time of feeding be governed? What 
is the danger of feeding too much at any one time? Let the class 
read in concert paragraph 510a, at the bottom of page 279. 



INDEX 



Accessories, 109. 

Acid phosphate, 94, 95. 

Acid soils, 97, 98, 104, .189. 

Acidity, 234. 

Esthetic tastes, 109. 

Agassiz, referred to, 35. 

Agricultural chemistry, 9, 113. 

Agricultural colleges, 2. 

Agricultural physics, 6. 

Agriculture, 1, 11, 14. 

Air in soils, 38, 72. 

Albumin, 213, 219, 255. 

Albuminoids, 245, 246, 248, 257. 

Alfalfa, 192, 199. 

Alimentary canal, 215, 2.33. 

Alkaline, 234. 

Alluvial lands, 24. 

Alps, denundation of, 30. 

Amendments, 40, 97. 

Ammonia, 90, 91. 

Amceba, 231. 

Amy lop sin, 221. 

Anacharis Canadensis, 128. 

Analysis of soil, 42. 

Angleworms, 17. [271. 

Animal, feeding of, 240, 247, 2(i(), 

Animal, how it lives. 208. 

Animal industry, 2, 3. 

Animal locomotion, 7. 

Animal, the, 201. 

Animals and soil-building, Hi. 

Animals, species and breeds, 14. 

Animai-Knowiedge, 8. 



Antiseptic, 1G4, 173, 218, 234. 

Apiculture, 3. 

Apple, propagation, 144. 

Apple, varieties of, 14. 

Apples, 108. 

Apples, tilling, 101, 1G2. 

Apple-scab, 167, 175. 

Apple-worm, 205. 

Aquatic plants, 19. 

Arthur & iMacDougal, 128. 129, 131, 

Arts, animals in, 203. 

Ash in foods, 242, 243. 

Ashes, 9G. 

Assimilation in plants, US, IL'8. 

Astronomy, 15. 

Atkinson, referred to, 124. 128, 131. 

Availability, 88, 104. 

Babcock test, 278. 

Bacillus ubiquitus, 35. 

Bacteria, 35, 167. 

Bailey, quoted, 31, 33, 45, 76, 84, 

111, 129, 130, 131, 140, 157, 171. 
Banana, 1. 
Barley, 106. 

Barley and pastures, 181. 
Barley, wild, 191. 
Barn, 268, 269. 
Barnes, referred to, 131. 
Barn-yard, 82, 85, 86. 
Bayous, 23. 

Bean, germination, 124. 
Bean soil, 42. 



(325) 



326 



INDEX 



Beans, 5, 92, 108. 

Beans and moisture, 57. 

Bedding, 267. 

Bee-culture, 3, 11. 

Beef, 11, 203. 

Beet, sugar, 147. 

Beetles, 160. 

Bermuda grass, 181. 

Beverage, 108. 109. 

Bicycle, 204. 

Bile, 220, 23G. 

Birds, digestion in, 220. 

Birds, tame, 204. 

Black-knot, 167. 

Blights, 167, 174. 

Blood, 210, 211, 222, 226. 

Blood, dried, 92, 203. 206. 

Blue grass, 181. 190. 19."). 197. 

Bogs, 20, 181. 

Bone, 93, 207. 

Bordeaux mixture, 169, 173, ]' 

Borers, 167, 168. 

Botany, 7, l."). 

Boulders, 24. 

Bran for feeding, 266. 

Breathing in animals. 224. 

Breeding, 8. 2.59. 

Breeds, 1.'). 

Brisket, 272, 276. 

Buckwheat, 79, 108, 1.36, 181. 

Bud propagation, 136. 

Budding, 139, 140, 144. 

Buds, opening, 130. 

Bulk in ration, 252. 

Burning of soils, 29. 

Business, 4, 9. 

Butter, 1, 11, 202. 

Buttermilk, 255. 

By-products, 255. 266. 

Cabbage, club-root, 175. 



Calcium, 87, 116. 

California Experiment Station, 63. 

Callus, 138. 

Cambium, 121, 139. 

Canned fruits, 11. 

Capacity of soil, 50, 59, 157. 

Capillary water, 48, 55, 58, l.^iO, 157. 

Carbohydrate, 127, 243, 246, 256. 

Carbon dioxid, 104, 117, 118. 127 

129, 224, 235. 
Carbonate of copper, 169, 177. 
Care of stock, 258. 
Carex, 194. 
Carnation, 14, 106. 
Carnivorous animals, 108, 212 
Casein, 213, 218, 219, 2.56. 
Catch-crops, 78, 80. 
Cats, 108, 204. 

Cattle, 3, 14. 108, 201, 212, 272. 
Cauliflowers, 109. 
Cavanaugh, chapter by, 87. 
Cereals, 181. 263. 
Charcoal, 104. 
Chautauqua belt, 14. 
Checking growth, 165. 
Cheese, 1, 11, 219, 235. 
Chemical action, 32. 
Chemicals in schools, 105. 
Chemistry, 8, 13, 15. 
Chester, quoted, 34, 
Chicken, 3, 235. 
Chine, 272. 
Chlorophyll, 118. 
Chrysanthemum, 14. 
Chyle, 235. 
Cider, 1, 109. 
Cion, 139, 144. 
Civil engineering, 7. 
Clay, moisture in, 51 
Climatology, 9. 
Climate, 3, 9, 107, 111. 



INDEX 



327 



Clinton L. A., chapter by, 47. 

Clinton, L. A., referred to, 70. 

Clod-crushers, 69. 

Clothing, 1. [80, 81, 84. 

Clover, green -crop, 22, 67, 78, 79, 

Clover in meadows, 181, 186, 189, 

Ciover roots, 110. [193, 199. 

Clover, plant-food in, 203, 206. 

Clover, seed-bed for, 151. 

Clovers and nitrogen, 92 

Club-root, 175. 

Cobbett's Tull, 72. 

Colleges, 2. 

Come true, 136, 140. 

Comfrey, 191. 

Commercial fertilizer, 95, 98. 203. 

Compost, ?A, 82. 

Compounds. 88, 103. 

Condiments, 109. [71. 

Conservation of moisture, 56, 65, 

Constituents of food, 213, 242, 266. 

Constitutional troubles, 166, 167, 

Cooking food, 254. [170, 174. 

Copper fungicide, 169. 

Corn. See maize. 

Cornell Experiment Station, 63. 

Cotton, 109, 120. 

Cotton-seed meal, 267. 

Cover-crops, 52, 79, 80, 162. 

Covered yard, 82, 85, 80. 

(.'ow, air required by. 228, 209 

Cow, points of, 273. 

Cows, feeding. 207. 

Cows, standard for, 252. 

Cow-peas, 79. 

Crabs, 206. 

Crop of fowl, 220, 235. 

Crops, 106, 202. 

Cultivators, 69. 

Culture, 72. 

Currant bug, 174. 



Currants, cuttings, 138. 
Cut-flowers, 109. 
Cuttings, 138, 142. 
Cypress knees, 127. 

Dairy husbandry, 3. 

Daisies in meadows, 31, 170. 

Darwin, quoted, 13, 33. 

Davy, work of, 13. 

DeCandoUe, ((uoted, 14. 

Delta, 35. 

Department of Agriculture. 13. 

Dewlap, 273, 277. 

Dicaleic phosphate, 95. 

Digestion, 215, 240. 

Discover}', 12. 

Diseases, 8, 10, 162. 

Ditches, 53, 60. 

Diversification of labor, 205, 207. 

Dogs, 108, 204. [265. 278. 

Drag, 76. 

Drainage, 53, 60. 

Drains, 48, 53, 60. 

Dressings, 83. 

Dressings for wounds, 164. 

Dried blood, 92, 203. 206. 

Dried meat, 206. 

Droughts, 49. 24. 

Ducks, 3, 20(1. 

Duggar, B. M., chapter by, 112. 

Dust in air, 35. 

Dwarfing, 137, 144. 

Dyes, 109. 

Earth-mulch, 57, 65, 69. 71, 149. 

Earthworms. 17, 33. 

Ecology, 8, 13. 

Eel-grass, 19. 

Egg, white of, 213, 256. 

Eggs, 1, 11,202. 

Elements, 87, 103. 



328 



INDEX 



Elodea Canadensis, 128. 
Emulsions, 1G8, 175, 221, 235. 
Enemies of plants, 1G6. 
Energy, 240 
Engineering, 7. 
Enriching land, 77. 
Ensilage. See silage. 
Entomology, 15. 
Environment, 8, 13. 
Escutcheon, 273, 27(5. 
Evaporated fruits, 1 i 125. 

Evaporation from plants, 11.'!, 114, 
Exhausted lands, 27. 
Experiment stations, 2, 13. 
Exploration, 12. 
Extensive farming, 86. 

Factory. 11. 

Fallowing, 158. 

Pall-plowing, 40. 

Farming, 1, 11. 

Farm-manures, 41. 

Farm-practice, 4, 28. 

Farm resources, 77. 

Fats in food, 213, 229, 243, 247, 256. 

Feed-mills, 7. 

Feeding of animal, 240, 247, 266, 

Feeding standards, 252. [271. 

Ferment, 233. 

Fertility, real, 77. 

Fertilizer, 41, 43, 95, 98, 203. 

Fertilizers, breads of, 15. 

Fescue, 190, 191. 

Fiber in foods, 243, 246. 

Fibers, 2, 28, 109. 

Fibrin, 219. 

Film moisture, 49, 59. 

Fish, 3, 201, 203. 

Fish, ground, 204, 206. 207. 

Flax, 109. 

Flesh is grass, 108. 



Float, 71. 

Floating islands, 20. 

Floriculture, 3, 109 

Florists' plants, 46. 

Flour, 11. 

Flower-pot experiment, 57, 59. 

Flowers, varieties, 15. 

Fodder, 109, 239. 

Food constituents, 213, 243, 267. 

Food, cooking, 255. [271 

Food of animals, 108, 212, 240, 243 

Food, quantity of, 250, 258, 266. 

Forage, 109, 191. 

Forcing-house, 86. 

Forest a crop, 106. 

Forestry, 2, 3, 12, 111. 

Fowls, 3, 259. 

Fowls, digestion in, 220. 

Foxes, 212. 

Free water, 48, 50. 

Freezing pulverizes soil, 68. 

Frigid zones, plants in, 119. 

Fruit-evaporating machinery, 7. 

Fruit-growing, 3, 11, 80, 96. 

Fruit plantations, tilling, 161= 

Fuchsias, cuttings, 138. 

Fungi, 166, 167, 169, 173. 

Fungicides, 169. 

Furrow, 72. 

li'urrow-slice, 74. 

Gang-plows, 163, 171. 

Ganong, quoted, 33. 

Garden, 12. 

Gastric juice, 215, 218. 

Gaye, quoted, 33, 36, 129 

Geese, 3. 

Geike, referred to, 30. 

Geology, 9, 14. 

Geraniums, cuttings, 138. 

German peasants, 206 



INDEX 



329 



Germination, IIG, 124, 133, 135. 

Germs, 21, 35, 91. 

Gills, 225. 

Ginger, 109. 

Gizzard, 220, 235. 

Glaciers, 24, 35. 

Glands, 210, 232. 

Gluten, 213, 218, 219. 

Gluten-meal, 267. 

Glycogen, 211,213, 232. 

Grafting, 137, 138, 139, 144. 

Grain-feeders, 212. 

Grains, 2, 109. 

Grains and phosphoric acid, 93. 

Graminese, 193. 

Granite, wearing away, 30. 

Grape districts, 277. 

Grape mildew, 167. 

Grapes, cuttings, 138, 142. 

Grass, 179, 189, 193. 

Grass and daisies, 31. 

Grass-feeders, 212. 

Gravitation and growth, 122. 

Green-crops, plowing under, 60, 6.1 

Green-manures, 21, 41, 52, 78, 79. 

Gi'owth and nitrogen, 89. 

Growth, in plants, 113, 120, 121. 

Growth processes, 120, 121. 

Grub, white, 205. 

Gypsum, 95, 105, 12;{. 

Habitableness, 107. 
Hair-waste, 204. 
Half-way stone, 32. 
Happiness, 6. 
Hard-pan, 67, 74. 
Harrows, 69, 155, 160. 
Harvesting machinery, 7. 
Hay raising, 185. 
Heading-in, 166. 
Heart, 225, 228, 238. 



Heat and germination, 133. 

Heat and plants, 119. 

Heat-producing, 229, 246, 256. 

Hellebore, 169. 

Hemp, 109. 

Herbage and plowing, 67, 68. 

Herbivorous animals, 108, 212. 

Hogs. See pigs and swine. 

Hoes, 69. 

Honeysuckle, layering, 142. 

Hoof-meal, 204, 206. 

Hop districts, 277. 

Horn, 204. 

Horse, air required by, 269 

Horse, intestine of, 212. 

Horse, trotting, 275. 

Horses, 3, 108, 201, 212. 

Horses, food of, 212, 272. 

Horses, standards for, 252. 

Horticulture, 2, 3, 12. 

Hortus, 12. 

Host, 167, 174, 183, 197. 

Housing of animals, 258, 266, 272. 

Hudson, palisades of, 30. 

Humus, 20, 22, 34, 41, 51, 52, 77, 

78, 81, 91, 93, 96, 149, 194, 264. 
Hungarian grass, 193. 
Hunting, 12. 
Husbandry, 2, 11, 28. 
Hydraulic rams, 7. 
Hydrochloric acid in stomach, 218. 
Hydrogen, 90. 
Hydroscopic water, 48, 49. 

Implements, 66, 69, 71, 74, 75, 76, 

158, 160, 162, 171. 
Indian corn. See maize. 
Inorganic matter, 16, 28. 
Insalivation, 216. 
Insecticides, 168. 
Insects, fighting, 15, 161, 166, 168. 



330 



LNDKA 



Intensive farming:, 79, 84, 20.". 
Internode, 12]. 
Inter-tillage, 64, 72. 
Intestinal juice, 21."), 220, 221. 
Intestines, sizes of, 212. 
Iodine, 130, 2:i:!. 
Iron, 87. 

Irrigation, 48, 58. 
Irritability, 122. 
Islands, floating, 20. 

Japan clover, 79, 182, 194, 197. 
Jellies, 11. 

Judging animals, 201, 273, 275. 
June grass, 181, 190, 195, 197. 
Jute, 109. 

Kansas Experiment Station, 03. 
Kerosene and emulsion, 108, 17."). 
King, quoted, 13, 33, 35, 30, 43, 4."> 

03, 72, 111. 
Kitchen-garden vegetables, 3, 12. 

Lagoons, 19, 23, 107. 

Lakes and soil, 19. 

Land defined, 16. 

Landscape horticulture, 3, 109. 

Law, James, chapter by, 208. 

Lawn, 3, 109. 

Layers, 137, 142. 

Leachy soils, 38, 39, 50, 91. 

Leaf-blights, 174. 

Leaf-hoppers, 108. 

Leaves, 84. 

Leguminous plants, 79, 80 181, 19J 

Lespedeza bicolor, 194. 

Lichen, 31. 

Liebig, work of, 13. 

Lilacs, layering, 142. 

Lime, 45, 87, 97. 

Lime and jilmsphurus, 94. 



Lime and sulfuric acid, 33. 
Litmus paper, 98, 104, 234. 
Liver, 220, 223. 
Live-stock, 203. 
Loam, 20, 51. 
Locomotion, animal, 7. 
Lodeman, referred to, 177. 
Loin, 273, 270. 277. 
London purple, 108, 170. 
Longevity of seeds, 133, 141. 
Lubbock, quoted, 30. 
Lucerne, 199. 
Lumber, 12, 109. 
Lungs, 225, 220, 238, 246. 
Luxuries, 5, 109, 
Lymph, 211, 222, 232, 230. 

Machinery, 7. 

Maize, 5, 26, 31, 47, 57, 58, 79. 

Maize and live-stock, 204, 260. 

Maize and oxygen, 117. 

Maize, food in, 278. 

Maize forage, 192. 

Maize, regermination, 136. 

Maize, seed-bed for, 148, 152. 

Maize, tilling, 160, 170. 

Mai -nutrition, 8. 

Mammals, 3. 

Management of stock, 259. 

Mangrove, 19, 33. 

Manufacture, 2, 11, 15. 

Manures, 21, 41, 52, 65, 81, 82, 

93, 201, 206, 265, 268. 
Many-celled animals, 208. 
Marble, wearing away, 30, 32. 
Market-gardening, 86, 265. 
Market problems, 5. 
Marl, 83. 

Marsh grasses, 19. 
Match, 104. 
Mathematics, 15. 



INDEX 



.331 



Meadows, harrowing, 160. 

Meadows, making, 185. 

Meal for feeding, 267. 

Meat, 5, 202. 

Meat, dried, 206. 

Mechanics, 7. 

Medicine, 2, 8. 

Medicines, 109. 

Mellow soils, 38, .'i9. 

Melon and cold, 120. 

Merrill, referred to, 3(>. 

Meteorology, 9. ^ 

Microbe, 35. 

Micro-organisms, 22, 34. 

Micro-organisms and ferment, 2.'{2. 

Micro-organisms and nitrogen. 91. 

Milch cow, care of, 2.30. 

Mildews, 167, 174. 

Milk, 1. 

Milk-curdling ferment, 218. 221. 

.Milk machinery, 7. 

Milk secreted, 211. 

Mining, 12. 

Mixed husbandry, 11, 28, 279. 

Moisture and germination, 133, 141. 

Moisture, conservation, 5(i, 6."), 71. 

Moisture in soils, 38, 47. 

Mold, 20, 51. 

Molds, 173, 

Molecules, 32. 

Monocalcic phosphate, 9.">. 

Monuments, wearing away, 30, 

Moss, 31, 33. 

Mountains, 10, 29. 

Muck, 83. 

Mulch of soil, ri7, 65, 69, 71, 149. 

Muley, 262. 

Mullein, 36. 

Muriate of potash, 96, 123. 

Muriatic acid in stomach, 218. 

Muscle cell, 231 



Mustard, 79. 
Muzzle, 273, 276, 277. 

Nebraska Experiment Station, 63. 
Nervous processes, 210. 
Nicholson, quoted. 14. 
Nile, 24. 

Nitrate of soda, 90, 92. 
Nitrates, 90, 91, 104. 
Nitrification, 38, 65, !)1. 
Nitrites, 104. 

Nitrogen, 87,89, 98, Kil, 116, 203. 
Nitrogen, amount in soil, 25. 
Nitrogen-gatherers, 79,80, IHI, 192. 
Nitrogen in food, 213, 245. 
Numbers of species, 14. 
Nurserymen's moss, 3.3. 
Nutrition in cells, 210. 
Nutritive ratio, 247, 257. 

Oats, 47, 79. 
Oats for forage, 19.3. 
Oats, regerniination, 136. 
Oats, water in, 47. 
Offices of the plant, 106. 
Oil-meal, 267. 
Oil of vitriol, 92, 94. 
Olerictilture, 3. 
Onion seeds, 133, 136. 
Opium, 109. 

Optimum temperature, 119. 1.34. 
Orange, budding, 144. 
Oranges, 108. [ 197. 

Orchard-grass, 110, 181, 190, 196, 
Orchards, tilling, 161. |(;t;. 

Organic matter, 16, 19, 2«, .33, .34, 
Organic matter removed by burn- 
Organisms, 21. (ing, 29. 
Ornamental plants, 3, 109. 
Ornithology, 8, 15. 
Osmosis, 113. 



332 



INDEX 



Ostreaculture, 3. 

Ox, 212. 

Oxen, standards for, 252. 

Oxygen, 90, 116, 129. 

Oxygen and germination, 133, 134. 

Oxygen in blood, 211, 223, 240. 

Oxygen in breathing, 224. 

Oyster-raising, 3. 

Palatability, 244, 254. 

Palisades, 30. 

I'ancreatic juice, 215, 221. 

Paradise, 12. 

Parasitic fungi, 166, 173. 

Paris green, 108, 176. 

Parkinson's book, 13. 

Parsnip seeds, 133. 

Particles of soil, size of, 39, 43, 44. 

Pastures, harrowing, 100, 181. 

Pastures, permanent, 180, 107. 

Pathology, 8. 

Pea family, 79. 

Pea mildew, 167. 

Pea, regermination, 136. 

Peach, budding, 144. 

Peaches, 106. 

Pear-blight, 167. 

Pear, propagating, 144. 

Pears, tilling, 162. 

Peas, 92, 193. 

Peas, to prevent erosion, 51. 

Peat, 20, 83. 

Pedigree, 262, 263, 278. 

Pepsin, 218. 

Peptones, 219, 223. 

Perennials, 146. 

Perfumery, 109. 

Pests, 10, 167. 

Pests and stock, 205. 

Pets, 204. 

Phleum pratense, 195. 



I'hosphut.-, 8:-t, 94. 9.',, 104. 

Fhosphatic rocks, 94. 

Phosphoric acid, 25, 93, 98, 101. 

Phosphorus, 87, 88, 104, 116, 203. 

Physics, 6. [170,174. 

Physiological troubles, 106, 107, 

Physiology, 8. 

Pigs. See also swine. 

Pigs, standards for, 252. 

Pin-bone, 273, 270, 278. 

Planker, 71, 75, 70. 

Plant-food defined, 128. 

Plant-food elements, 87. 

Plant, how it lives, 112. 

Plant-knowledge, 7. 

Plant-lice, 100, 108. 

Plants, species and varieties, 14. 

Plaster, 95. 

Plowing, 66, 162, 171. 

Plowing green-crops, 60, 65. 

Plowing to dry the land, 68. 

Plows, 73, 74. 

Plum, budding, 144. 

Plum-rot, 175. 

Poa prateusis, 195. 

Points of animals, 262, 273, 275. 

Poisons for insects, 168. 

Pomace, 84, 256. 

Pomology, 3. 

Ponds and soil, 19. 

Pork. 203. 

Pot, with plant, 40. 

Potash, 95, 98, 101. 

Potash, amount in soil, 25. 

Potassium, 87, 104, 110. 

Potato-bugs, 109. 

Potato mildew, 107. 

Potato, propagation, 146, 15.^. 

Potato refuse, 78. 

Potato, seed-bed for, 154, 15.S. 

Potato tuber, 124 



INDEX 



333 



PotatOj varieties of, 14. 
Potatoes, 1, 90, 108. 
Potatoes and muriate, 90. 
Potatoes, tilling, 100. 
Potatoes, water in, 47. 
Potential plant-food, 30 
Poultry, breeds of, 200. 
Poultry-raising, 3, 203. 
Prairies, stocls on, 266. 
Precipices, 30. 
Precipitate, 235. 
Precipitation, 59. 
Prepotent, 261. 
Preventives for pests, 107. 
Principles, 15. 
Principles of pi'uuing, 105. 
Propagation of plants, 132. 
Prophylaxis, 175. 
Proteids, 247, 248. 
Protein, 243, 244, 248. 
Protoplasm, 113, 127. 
Proventriculus, 220, 235. 
Pruning, 163. 
Ptomaines, 224, 230. 
Ptyalin, 210, 233. 
Puddling, 68. 
Pump, 7, 169, 170, 177. 
Pumpkin, germination, 124. 
Pure-blood stock, 263. 
Purse, 278. 

Quack-grass, 31. 

Quadrupeds, 201. 

Quantity of food, 250, 258, 200. 

Quarries, 30. 

Quarter, 273. 

Quick-lime, 40, 97. 

Quii^ce, propagation, 144. 

Quinces, 109. 

Quinine, 109. 

Habbits. 204. 



Ragweed, 31. 

Rain drops, 35. 

Rainfall, 48, 50, 59, 63, 107. 

Rakes, 69. 

Range, 263. 

Rape, 79. 

Ratio, nutritive, 247, 357. 

Ration, 214, 250, 271. 

Red-clover is tap-rooted, 140, 117 

Red-top, 181, 190. 

Refuse, 78. 

Regermiuatiou, 130. 

Remedies for pests, 107. 

Rennet, 235. 

Reservoir for water, 54, 03, 67. 

Resources of soil, 25. 

Respiration in animals, 224. 

Respiration in plants. 117 

Rest of animals, 228. 

Resting the land, 80. 

Retentive soils, 38, 39. 

Reverted j^hosphate, 95. 

Ribs, 273. 

Rice, 108. 

Rill, 35. 1179,259. 

Roberts, I. P., chapters by, 145. 

Roberts, quoted, 25, 35, 36, 45, 63, 

72, 74, 76, 84, 86, 105, 207. 
Rock and soil, 16, 42. 
Roller, 71, 76, 155. 
Root crops, 96. 
Root, evolution of, 31. 
Root, growth of, 121, 131. 
Root-hairs, 113, 124. 
Root-pressure, 115, 125. 
Root-pruning, 165. [32, So, 104. 

Roots and soil formation, 16. 21, 
Rose-bug, 175. 
Rot of plum, 175. 
Rotation, 79, 179, 197, 207. 
Rotation and pests, 168. 



334 



INDEX 



Rotten stones, 23. 
Roughage, 191. 
Ruminants, 216, 2j:!. 
Rump, 273, 274, 27S. 
Rusts, 174. 

Rye and pastures, 181. 
Rye for forage, 192. 
Rye to plow under, 67, 7'.t. 
Rye, to prevent erosion, .Tl. 

Saliva, 215, 232. 

Saltpetre, 90. 

Salts, 115, 123, 214. 

Sand-bars, 35. 

Sand, moisture in, 51. 

Sand-storms, 25. 

Sands held by plants, 111. 

Sap, 114, 115, 124, 126, V.U. 

Saprophyte, 173. 

Sawdust, 83. 

Scab, 167. 

Scale insects, 166, 168. 

Scales, experiment with, 59, 

Sciences, 5. 

Sea crabs, 206. 

Sea margins, 19. 

Seaweed, 31. 

Sea-wrack, 19. 

Season to prune, 164. 

Secretion, 210. 

Sedges, 19, 198. 

Seed, 1.55. 

Seedage, 133, 135. 

Seed-bed, 70, 71, 134, 145, 155. 

Seedlings, raising of, 135. 

Seeds, germination, 133, 142, 14." 

Semi-staples, 108. 

Shade, 108. 

Shaler, referred to, 3(). 

Sheep, 3, 108. 201, 212. 

Sheep stomach, 233. 



Sheltering manure, 82. 
Ships dusty at sea. 36. 
Shower, 35. 
Silage, 254, 2.58. 
Silicon, 87. 
Silo, 258, 265. 
Single-celled animals, 208. 
Slips, 138. 
Smuts, 170, 178. 
Snowballs, layering, 140. 
Soaking seeds, 134. 
Soap washes, 168. 
Sod, influence on soil, 21, 68. 
Sod in orchards, 161. 
Sodium, 116. 
Soil and stock, 202. 
Soil, contents of, 16, 42. 
Soil, moisture in, 50. 
Soil-mulch, 57, 65, 69, 71, 149. 
Soil particles, size of, 39, 43, 44. 
Soil, texture of, 'M. 
Soiling crops. 191. 
Sorauer, referred to, 124, 126, 127. 
Specialized, 232. 

Specialty-farming, 11, 279. [14. 

Species, number of in cultivation, 
Speculation, 12. [by, 37. 

Spencer, J. W.. (|Uoted 35; chapter 
Sphagnum, 20. 'X',. 
Spices, 109. 
Spittle, 232. 
Sixn-es, 169, 218, 2:ti. 
Spt)rt, 262. 
Spraying, 165, 16y. 
Springs, 48, 50. 
Squash-bug, 167. 
Squash, seedling of, 131. 
Squashes and moisture, 57. 
Stable-manure, 21, 41. 
Stable-manures, 65, 81, 82, 89, 93, 
201, 265, 2(W. 



INDEX 



3-^5 



Stables, 82, 80, 258, 2(it), 272. 

Standards, feeding, 252. 

Staples, 5, 108. 

Starch, 28, 118, 127, 129, V-W, 2Xi. 

Starch equivalent, 247. 

Starch in food, 213, 246. 

Steer, score of, 277. 

Stem, growth of, 121, 130. 

Stifle, 273. 

Stink-bug, l(i7. 

Stock, 3, 201. 

Stock and pastures, 181. 

Stock, care of, 259. 

Stock, in grafting, 139. 

Stockbridge, referred to, 36. 

Stomach, 212, 233. 

Stomata, 114,'ll7, 124. 

Stones grow smaller, 30. 

Stones, rotten, 23. 

Stratification, 136. 

Straw, 83. 

Streams, action of, 35. 

Streams carry soil, 23. 

Struggle for existence in tree-top' 

163, 173. 
Stubble and plowing, 68. 
Stubble refuse, 78, 80. 
Sturtevant, quoted, 14. 
Subsoil, 74. 
Subsoiling, 68. 
Subsurface, 155. 
Sulfate of ammonia, 92. 
Sulfate of potash, 9(). 
Sulfur, 87, 116. 
Sulfur fungicide, 169. 
Sulfuric acid, 33, 92. 94, 95. 
Sugar, 28. 
Sugar-beet, 147. 

Sugar-cane and muriate, 96, 146. 
Sugar in plant, 120, 127, 131. 
Sugar in digestion, 223. 



Sugars in food, 213, 246. 

Summer-fallowing, 158. 

Sunlight and growth, 118. 

Superphosphate, 104. 

Surgery, 8. 

Swamps, 20. 

Sweat, 211. 

Sweet potatoes, 148. 

Sweet vernal grass, 191. 

Swine, 201. 

Swine and pests, 205. 

Swine, feeding, 272. 

Switch, 273. 

Symbols of elements, 103. 

Syringe, 169. 

Tankage, 203, 206. 

Tap-roots, 110, 147. 

Tarr, referred to, 14, 35, 36. 

Teats, 273, 276. 

Temperature for barns, 270. 

Temperature for germination, 134 

Temperature of soil, 38. 

Texas steer, 212. 

Textiles, 109. 

Texture of soil, 31. 

Thawing, influence on soils, 68. 

Thinning, 166. 

Threshers, 7. 

Thrips, 168. 

Thurl, 273, 276, 278. 

Tillage and water capacity, 54, ()3. 

Tillage defined, 64, 72. 

Tillage of the soil, 64, 159. 

Timber, 2, 3, 109. 

Timothy for meadows, 186, 189, 199 

Timothy, picture of, 195, 196. 

Toadstools, 173. 

Tobacco and muriate, 96. 

Tobacco insecticide, 168. 

Tomatoes, 106. 



33G 



IXDKX 



I'ools, GG, 69, 71, 74, 75, 76, 158, 
Toxins, 224, 236. [160, 162, 171. 
Traiuing, 163. 

Transpiration, 114, 120, 125. 
Transportation, 11, 15. 
Transportation of soils, 22. 
Tricalcic phosphate, 94. 
Trifolium hybridiini, inearnatum, 
medium, pratense, repens, 193, 
Trimming, 1G3. [194. 

Tropical plants, 119. 
Trypsin, 221. 
Tull, Jethro, 44, 72. 
Turgidity, 113, 127. 
Turkeys, 3, 201. 

fjdder, 273, 27G. 
Underdrainage, 40, 53, 60. 

Valleys, 16. 

Vegetables, 3, 11, 109. 

Ventilation, 228, 269. 

Viability, 133. 

Vilmorin, quoted, 14. 

Villus, 222, 235, 236. 

Vineyards and rose-bugs, 175. 

Vitality of seeds, 133. 

Vitriol, oil of, 92, 94. [206. 

Voorhees, referred to, 84, 86, 1C5, 

Waste in animals, 228, 229. 

Water, amount soil will hold, 47, 59. 

Water, driving off bj- heat, 29. 

Water for stock, 271: 

Water in foods, 243. 

Water in the plant, 113, 114. 

Water-lily, 19. 

Water moves lands, 23. 

Water plants, 19. 

Water-sprouts, 165. 



Water-table, 40, 46. 

Water used by plants, 03, 74. 

Weather, 9, 10. 

Weathering, 16, 30. 

Weeds, 69, 70, 76, 81, 159, IGO, 176 

Weeds and stock, 205. [179 

Weeds, kinds, 15. 

Weevils, 175. 

Weight of water on acre, 63. 

Wells, 48. 

Wheat, 1, 4, 26, 108, 198. 

Wheat and mullein, 36. ' 

Wheat and pastures, 181. 

Wheat, germination, 124, 136. 

Wheat, propagation, 132. 

Wheat, seed-bed for, 148, 152, 155, 

Wheat, tilling, 160. [158. 

Wheeler, referred to, 45. 

White hellebore, 169. 

Willow, 31, 146. 

Windbreaks, 107, 111. 

Windmills, 7. 

Winds and soils, 24. 

Wine, 11, 109. 

Wing, H. H., chapter by, 240. 

Wing, H. H., referred to, 278. 

Wisconsin, University of, 13, 277. 

Withers, 273, 276. 

Wolves, 212. 

Wood or timber, 2, 3. 

Wood products, 109. 

Wool, 1. 

Wool-waste, 204. 

Work of animals, 228. 

Worms, 166, 169. 

Worn-out lands, 21. 

Wounds, healing, 163, 164. 

Zoology, 8. 



Printed in the United States of America 



BOOKS ON AGRICULTURE 



ON SELECTION OF LAND, ETC. 

E. W. Hilgard's Soils: Their Formation, and Relations to 

Climate and Plant Growth $4 00 

ON TILLAGE, ETC. 

Elwood Mead's Irrigation Institutions 1 25 

William E. Smythe's The Conquest of Arid America .... 1 50 

H. Snyder's Chemistry of Plant and Animal Life 1 50 

H. Snyder's Soil and Fertilizers. Third edition 1 25 

ON PLANT DISEASES, ETC. 

A. S. Packard's A Text-hook on Entomology 4 50 

L. R. Hesler and H. H. Whetzel's Manual of Fruit Diseases . 2 00 

ON PRODUCTION OF NEW PLANTS 

L. H. Bailey's The Survival of the Unlike 2 00 

W. S. Harwood's New Creations in Plant Life 2 00 

ON GARDEN-MAKING 

Bailey and Hunn's Practical Garden Book 1 10 

A. French's Book of Vegetables 1 75 

A. French's Beginner's Garden Book 1 00 

ON FRUIT-GROWING, ETC. 

L. H. Bailey's The Pruning-Book 2 00 

ON THE CARE OF LIFE-STOCK 

W. H. Jordan's The Feeding of Animals 1 75 

ON DAIRY WORK, FARM CHEMISTRY, ETC. 

Harry Snyder's Dairy Chemistry 1 00 

W. D. Frost's Laboratory Guide in Elementary Bacteriology . 1 60 
Lincoln and Malton's Elementary Quantitative Chemical 

Analysis 1 50 

ON ECONOMICS AND ORGANIZATION 

Henry C. Taylor's Agricultural Economics 1 25 

S. E. Sparling's Business Organization 1 25 

/n the Citizen's Library. Includes a Chapter on Farming 
L. H. Bailey's The State and the Farmer 1 25 

ON EVERYTHING AGRICULTURAL 

L. H. Bailey's Cyclopedia of American Agriculture. Com- 
plete in four royal 8vo volumes, with over 2,000 illus- 
trations. Price of sets; Cloth, .S24; half morocco . . . 36 00 



For further information as to any of the above, address the publishers 

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 64-66 Fifth Avenue NEW YORK 



CYCLOPEDIA OF 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURE 

Edited by L. H. BAILEY 

With WO full-page plates and more than 2,000 illustrations in the 
text; four volumes; the set, $24.00; half morocco, $36.00. 



Vol. I— Farms Vol. Ill — Animals 

Vol. II— Crops Vol. IV— The Farm and the Community 



This is unquestionably tne most important agricultural cyclopedic 
work published in this country. The leading experts in the United 
States and Canada, both investigators and practical farmers, con- 
tribute to its chapters, which are arranged not alphabetically, but 
topically, each subject being treated in its various aspects by men 
especially famihar with it. It contains advice for the city man who 
is seeking a home in the country, as weU as for the professional 
farmer. The book is strictly new and up-to-date in its methods and 
advice, thoroughly readable, and a standard work of reference. It 
is profusely illustrated, about one-third of the total space being 
assigned to illustrations — all original. 

"Indispensable to pubUc and reference libraries . . . readily 
comprehensible to any person of average education." — The Nation. 

"The completest existing thesaurus of up-to-date facts and 
opinions on modern agricultural methods. It is safe to say that many 
years must pass before it can be surpassed in comprehensiveness, 
accuracy, practical value, and mechanical excellence. It ought to 
be in every hbrary in the country." — Record-Herald, Chicago, 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 64-66 Fifth Avenue NEW YORK 



'■'■The Bible and Britannica of the Garden-folk'' — The Nation 

The Standard 
Cyclopedia of Horticulture 

Edited by L. H. BAILEY 

With the assistance of over 500 collaborators 

New edition, entirely rewritten and enlarged with many features, with plates in 

color, 96 full-page half-tones and over 4,000 text illustrations. 

Complete in six volumes. 

Set: Cloth, $36.00; Leather, $60.00 
Sold only in sets by subscription. 



Two opinions of Volume I of the new Cyclopedia: 
"No one who knows anything at all about the hterature of garden- 
ing needs to be told that the Cyclopedia is unique. It is the Bible 
and Britannica of the garden-folk, amateur and professional alike. 
And the remarkable thing is that, while it is fundamentally a work 
of reference, it also contains limitless quantities of good reading of 
the sort dear to the heart of the garden enthusiast." — The Nation. 

"It is no exaggeration to state that Bailey's new work is the best 
cyclopedia obtainable for all who are connected, either remotely or 
intimately, as amateurs or professionals, with horticultural pursuits. 
It is the best for the student of botany who is investigating the subject 
in a purely scientific way; best for the commercial grower who hkes 
to be well informed on matters in general and his own trade in par- 
ticular, and best for the other sort of commercial grower, who does 
not bother himself particularly about hunting for any information 
except such as will give him immediate help in producing a better 
crop." — The Florist's Review. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 64-66 Fifth Avenue NEW YORK 



RURAL SCIENCE SERIES 

Edited by L. H. BAILEY 

Each volume illustrated Cloth, 12mo 

A series of practical books for farmers and gardeners, sold as a set or sep- 
arately. Each one is the work of a competent specialist, and is suitable for con- 
sultation alike by the amateur or professional tiller of the soil, the scientist or the 
student. Illustrations of marked beauty are freely used, and the books are clearly 
printed and well bound. 
ON SELECTION OF LAND, ETC. 

Isaac P. Roberts' The Farmstead $1 50 

T. F. Hunt's How to Choose a Farm 1 75 

E. G. Cheyney and J. P. Wentling's The Farm Woodlot 1 75 

C. V. Piper and R. A. Oakley's Turf for Golf Courses 2 50 

ON TILLAGE, ETC. 

F. H. King's The Soil 1 50 

Isaac P. Roberts' The Fertility of the Land . 1 50 

F. H. King's Irrigation and Drainage . ' 1 60 

Edward B. Voorhees' Fertilizers. New Edition 1 50 

Edward B. Voohees' Forage Crops 1 50 

J. A. Widtsoe's Dry Farming 1 50 

L. H. Bailey's Principles of Agriculture 1 25 

ON PLANT DISEASES. ETC. 

E. G. Lodeman's The Spraying of Plants 1 50 

ON GARDEN-MAKING 

D. Lumsden's Greenhouse Construction and Heating Preparing 

A. W. Gilbert's The Potato 1 50 

L. H. Bailey's Garden-Making 1 60 

L. H. Bailey's Principles of Vegetable-Gardening 1 60 

L. H. Bailey's Forcing-Book 1 25 

L. H. Bailey and A. W. Gilbert's Plant Breeding. New Edition ... 2 00 

P. H. Rolf's Subtropical Vegetable-Gardening 1 50 

ON FRUIT-GROWING, ETC. 

L. H. Bailey's Nursery-Book 1 50 

L. H. Bailey's Principles of Fruit-Growing. New Edition 1 75 

F. W. Card's Bush-Fruits 1 50 

W. Paddock & O. B. Whipple's Fruit-Growing in Arid Regions .... 1 50 

J. E. Coit's Citrus Fruits' 2 00 

S. W. Fletcher's The Strawberry in North America Preparing 

S. W. Fletcher's Strawberry-Growing 1 75 

ON THE CARE OF LIVE-STOCK 

Nelson S. Mayo's The Diseases of Animals 1 75 

I. P. Roberts' The Horse 1 35 

M. W. Harper's Breaking and Training of Horses 2 00 

George C. Watson's Farm Poultry. New Edition 1 50 

John A. Craig's Sheep Farming 1 50 

E. F. Phillips' Beekeeping 2 00 

E. L. Potter, G. A. Samson, O. M. Nelson and C. N. Kennedy's 

Western Livestock Management Preparing 

ON DAIRY WORK, FARM CHEMISTRY, ETC. 

Henry H. Wing's Milk and Its Products. New Edition 1 50 

J. G. Lipman's Bacteria in Relation to Country Life 1 50 

ON ECONOMICS AND ORGANIZATION 

William A. McKeever's Farm Boy§ and Girls 1 75 

I. P. Roberts' The Farmer's Business Handbook 1 25 

George T. Fairchild's Rural Wealth and Welfare 1 50 

H. N. Ogden's Rural Hygiene 1 50 

J. Green's Law for the American Farmer 1 50 

G. H. Powell's Cooperation in Agriculture 1 50 

J. B. Morman's Principles of Rural Credits I 50 

Glenn W. Herrick's Insects Injurious to the Household 1 75 

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 64-66 Fifth Avenue NEW YORK 



■JJSar^fcongress 



0DD27733074 ^ 



'liiiiiiiill 



